Dude In Distress - Part 2: Shed Some Light

This story was originally written as an RPG campaign for the game Valley of Unicorns. I thought it was such a fun story, so I revised it by creating my own player characters, and I did mock rolls as well to see just how much muck the characters could mire themselves in (I kept it in present tense like the RPG scenes, though!). Happy adventuring!

You can find the first part of this story on Wattpad. ALL future parts of this story will be on Wattpad ONLY--so add it to your library there if you want to continue reading.

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The sun sets behind the mountains as the determined band of unicorns reach the mouth of the cave.

Sun paws the dirt at the entrance. "We got a late start, it seems. Should we wait until morning to head in?" She won't admit to this bunch of horses just how much her namesake comforts and enlivens her.

"No use fretting about the dark," Star says. "It'll be just as dark inside. Besides, we have no idea how long Dom has before Big Bad Girl loses her temper and hurts him."

"We go. Now." Fiona trots into the cave.

The others follow and then promptly run into a stalled Fiona.

"A little warning," Burn says as he pushes himself up from the cave floor.

Star squints into the pitch black, knowing that this tunnel will only lead deeper into the mountain. "Can you light our way, Burn?"

Purple sparks jump from his horn again, followed by a glow that doesn't illuminate much aside from his face. "This is the best I can do, but I can't hold it forever."

"We need something better," Quell says. "I can sing in the dark, but not if I've knocked myself out from running into a wall."

Bardic jokes aside, Star knows this darkness will hinder all of them. If they come across any dangers, how will they fight if they can't see what attacks them? "Everyone back out. We have to find something to light our way before we head further in."

The horses oblige, though Fiona sulks a bit once they get back outside.

The moon has risen and the stars glint in the night sky. If only they can snatch the stars out of the sky to light their way. But not even an alicorn or pegasus can do that.

There has to be something else suitable. If Big Bad Girl can delve into the depths, dragging Dom along with her, there has to be a source near to light her way.

"Start looking, everyone!" Star wonders why she has taken on the leader roll when she didn't want to go on this adventure in the first place. Sun would tell her she has control issues.

All five horses start searching the mountainside.

Star grows frustrated quickly, unable to find anything of use. Perhaps Sun is right, she does have control issues.

"Look!" Sun, Quell, and Burn all say at the same time. Burn snorts, upset he isn't the only one with the discovery.

There's a slight glow a small ways up the mountain on a grassy plateau.

At least some horses have better eyes than Star.

The horses climb up to the plateau. Before them is a small field of flowers, swaying in the breeze. At the center of each flower is a glowing ball.

Fiona trots up to the flowers. "Oh, so shiny!" She leans down to smell one. "Dom would love these." The ball of light disengages from the flower she is smelling and fastens to the tip of her horn. It glows even brighter than before.

The grass rustles as the others approach the flowers, but there's no wind.

"Wait!" Star says. Too late.

The grass jumps up from the ground in little balls with tiny black eyes and gnashing green teeth. Half of them pounce on Fiona, and she screams. The rest turn to attack the other four horses.

The Grass Gobblers aren't happy that Fiona and friends have disturbed their field of stars. Not even in the cave yet, and the horses are already running into trouble.

Time for Star to take charge again, since all the others are just scrambling to get away from the fluffy green menaces. "Get those things off of Fiona first."

They rally to her call, and everyone makes an initial swipe to clear the Grass Gobblers in their path so they can reach Fiona. Quell easily squishes one under his hoof right away, but Sun just makes them more angry, and five converge on her.

At least they know now that these little green monsters are a bunch of pushovers. Squishy little dudes.

Fiona gallops around the plateau, ten Grass Gobblers nibbling at her hind hooves.

While Sun deals with the five swarming her, Star, Quell, and Burn go after the ones pursuing Fiona.

In Star's haste to help Fiona, she gets the attention of three other Grass Gobblers, who bombard her and leave scratches down her neck. The wounds sting and slow her down, but only for a moment. Her anger boils over and she lashes out with a spell, white bursts of light shooting from her horn--two of the Grass Gobblers perish in a green smear.

The others don't have much luck, the little monsters dodging Quell's and Burn's attacks. And poor Sun flails in a panic as the five green globs nip at her legs.

"Get it together," Star says. "They're made of grass."

"But they're grass with teeth!" Sun swats at the speedy green monsters, unable to squish any, but attracting the attention of two more. One breaks off from following Fiona and jumps Quell, who quickly dispatches it with a well-aimed swipe. "It doesn't help that they're fast, and there's a lot of them."

Burn tries to call forth a damage shield to help protect Fiona, but since she's running too fast, his attempt fails. "Hold still!"

"Don't listen to him--keep running." Star glares at Burn. Does he want the nine left following Fiona to gash her up? Drawn to the incredulity she misses an easy target as it skitters right under her hoof.

Quell starts to sing, but three more peel off from chasing Fiona and pounce on him. Clearly they have something against music. He can't deflect them all at once, and his song breaks before it can be much use to the group.

Burn's temper gets the best of him, since none of his spells seem to help with the speedy Fiona and Grass Gobblers moving too fast for him, so he can't even get the words to any incantations right.

And poor Sun starts whimpering from the gashes inflicted by the seven monsters still after her.

Things aren't looking good.

Two more give up chasing Fiona and strike at Star, leaving more scratches on her coat. "Enough." She strikes with her magic and squishes both attackers.

"Ow! Stop!" Sun flails more as the Grass Gobblers tear at her, and she randomly squashes one.

Burn takes a deep breath, focusing on his words, and unleashes Zigzag Zap, a powerful lightning spell, zapping three of the monsters chasing Fiona. "Ha. Take that you little bastards."

Finally, a turn in the tide. Six left attacking Sun, three on Quell, and only one more after Fiona.

Sun howls, deflecting all the attacks, but is unable to kill another of the Grass Gobblers.

With only one after Fiona now, Star unleashes her magic to protect her sister, the one who wanted to go on this adventure in the first place and can't even handle grass! Through the incredulity, Star still wants to save her sister, and with excellent aim smites three.

Quell grinds one under his hoof.

Unfortunately, Burn stammers, slightly exhausted from the last big spell. The final one following Fiona leaps and latches onto Burn's tail. "No you don't." He flicks his tail, sending the Grass Gobbler flying out of sight, likely no more than a smear on the side of the mountain now.

Affronted that her sister had to come to her defense, Sun rallies and strikes one down. "I don't need your help, Star."

"Sure you don't." Way too much pride. Star shoots down the last two attacking Sun with her magic.

Quell slices through the two nipping at him.

All the Grass Gobblers are finally dead, just little green splotches dotting the plateau.

Fiona sobs on Quell's shoulder while Star does the rounds, taking a look at everyone's injuries. All of the wounds are only superficial scratches. Guess that's what happens when the monsters have bendable blades of grass for teeth. The scratches hurt far more when they were being inflicted compared to what is left behind.

"I don't need to be looked at," Sun says. She hadn't handled herself well with this attack, besmirching her image.

Star is sure Sun will face things better next time, but she ignores the request and takes care of her sister anyhow.

After all the wounds are tended to, Star directs everyone to grab an orb from the flowers.

With shining stars fastened to every horn, they return to the cave, back on course to save Dom from Big Bad Girl.

UP NEXT: Crazy Necro Antics - Wedding Bells

Dude In Distress - Part 1: Frantic Filly

This story was originally written as an RPG campaign for the game Valley of Unicorns. I thought it was such a fun story, so I revised it by creating my own player characters, and I did mock rolls as well to see just how much muck the characters could mire themselves in. Happy adventuring!

You can also find this story on Wattpad.

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It's a calm, sunny afternoon at The Watering Hole in the Valley--birds singing, dragonflies flitting from lily pad to lily pad. Murmurs of equine conversation circle the pond, along with laughter and cheer.

"I'm bored," Sun says. "Bored, bored, bored. And you stole my spot at the edge of the water, Star."

Star rolls her eyes. "You're always bored, unless you're at sparring practice. And there's plenty of edge left. You don't need to be on top of me."

Her twin sister has a tendency to suffocate her. She doesn't know why--Sun is a physical type and enjoys to beat things up, but Star prefers to aid the other horses, using the magic in her horn to heal. They may look alike, both storm unicorns, but they are nothing alike. Most times Star helps heal the bruises Sun causes.

"It's peaceful, and I'm enjoying it," says Star. "Go take your foul attitude elsewhere."

A clattering of hooves shatter that peace. A young fire unicorn filly, eyes wild and mane tousled, storms into The Watering Hole, nearly tumbling into the water headfirst.

"Help, help!" She collapses and dips her nose into the pond, taking a long drink. Then she inhales and bellows, silencing the birds and sending the dragonflies skittering. "Help! My fiance has been taken, and someone must save him."

Quell approaches the filly and touches his nose to her shoulder. "Calm now, young one." His voice has a sing-song quality, a hint of the beautiful tenor that explodes from his mouth when he sings. And oh, he loves to sing. So much that he drives many other unicorns away because he won't shut up. Some think he's just trying to make up for his dull bay coloring with a bit of beauty. "I'll help you. And I'm sure some others will too."

"Of course," Burn says. "How can I not assist a lady in distress?" Sparks jump from the end of his horn, lavender to match his gleaming coat. Big show off. Though his magic is powerful enough to back up his ego.

"It's not me that's in distress, but my poor fiance, Dom," the filly says.

Sun pushes herself up from the ground. "We'll help too!"

"Hey," Star whispers, "Don't go volunteering me for things. You're the one that's bored."

"Come on, sis, live a little."

Star reluctantly moves from her quiet spot at the water's edge, knowing she can't allow her sister to gallop off alone, and walks up to the filly. "What happened, dear? Fiona, isn't it?"

The filly nods. "Dom and I were walking along the river, having a romantic afternoon together when she appeared. I recognized her--Dom had mentioned another filly was after his affections, but he turned her down because he loves me. Well she showed up and demanded Dom go with her. When he said no, she used some type of magic and grew to four times her normal size, and snatched him up in her mouth. I followed her to a cave, but then I lost her because it was too dark to chase her down a tunnel. I fear her brain is unhinged and that if Dom doesn't agree to become hers, she'll surely kill him. Maybe even eat him! Will you save him from this Big Bad Girl?"

"Oh, I think I know who you're talking about," says Sun. "That ice blue unicorn? The one that prefers to live underground? I don't think anyone even knows her real name."

"Yes, that's her."

"We'll save Dom, no problem," Burn says. "He'll be back by your side before dinner. Maybe sooner."

Star sighs. This sounds like a quest that might take longer than an afternoon.

"I insist on going with you, though," Fiona says. "There is no way I'm going to stay behind and let you go after Big Bad Girl without me." The determination in her face is evident.

Their hooves are forced. Not only does the merry band have to save Dom, but they have to keep Fiona safe as well. "Let's gather supplies," Star says.

Fiona pushes herself up from the ground and takes one final drink. "Once you have everything, please follow me. I fear we'll have to travel deep underground, into the mountain."

Star takes charge and makes sure all five horses have packs with enough food along. All but Fiona is adorned with some type of armor. Sun and Quell have reinforced horns and hooves, and Sun has a buckler attached to her leg. Star puts on her cloak and blue beads to help if any healing is necessary, while Burn has red beads and a cloak as well to assist him with his more destructive magic.

Once they're sure they have all that they need, they allow Fiona to lead the way to Big Bad Girl and Dom.

NEXT UP: What Am I Reading?

Caffeine--Stat!

It took its sweet time getting here, but I think spring has finally arrived! Which is great because I need the sun and warmth to recharge. I'm always more productive in the spring and summer (so say my graphs!).

I can't say much of my productivity for cleaning my house. *coughs* Well, if my husband doesn't like it, he can clean it - lol. Not that he complains--I can happily say he wouldn't ever tell me to clean if he saw me writing, since he knows how important it is to me.

But I doubt anyone really cares about my messy house, not unless they have to come visit (it needs to be clean by June 28th, yes, must clean for a cookout...it'll happen the week before when hubbie takes off of work just so we can clean the damn thing). I hope some of you care about my writing progress, though! If you don't, that's OK too. You can pass this post by then, and eagerly await my next post instead. ;)

I am going to answer a series of questions (so what if I'm interviewing myself--no one said writers aren't crazy).

Have you been writing the last couple months? Yes!

Have you been revising? Well, no, but--.

No excuses. Have you been focusing on one project? Um, that's a no too. I can explain, though!

I said no excuses! Have you been happy with your productivity and what you've been working on? Oh, I can answer this one with a yes!

Do you feel you've succeeded at your general writing goals? Yes, yes, yes! And that's what matters, isn't it?

What is your main goal? To keep the writing gears oiled, like I mentioned back in January. Any writing counts! I've been working on this fun short story (well, maybe it's a short story) that has rabid unicorns in it, and the baby blows raspberries with squirrel blood, and these things called blurberries--.

Slow down, slow down. No, not going to slow down I don't want to! Time for you to shut up. I haven't put any goals or constraints on what exactly I'm working on because I need the freedom to dabble right now. And I will mention an excuse--I have a 6-month-old who depends on me to take care of her. As a matter of fact she's wiggling on my lap right now while I type one-handed.

Uh, well. Don't you "uh, well" me. I've also been working on another contest entry for Valley of Unicorns. This one is a role-playing campaign. And I'm having a blast doing it. I wrote 1500 words on just one scenario last night. Is it something that I can publish? No. But I am keeping my creativity flowing, plus all writing is practice. 1500 words in one night! Think of how that will translate when I can focus again on material I intend to seek publication for.

And the main point is I'm pleased with my progress. Happy I'm having fun romping with words. There will be more time to focus on revising and such when my baby decides she's going to finally sleep through the night (and not grab at my face and hair when I'm just trying to type up a blog post), or maybe when I can get a constant IV of caffeine without all the unhealthy negatives of soda or sweet tea (which I'd seriously be sucking on all day if I could stop thinking of the acidity and empty calories).

OK, maybe I do need to slow down a bit. I shouldn't have drank that sweet tea.

Clearly I've been productive by my standards. All writing is practice and the more you do it, the more you'll improve.

I've also been running Writing Quest every month still. Don't forget to join in if you have some writing goals!

That's pretty much all I have for updates. Now get me more caffeine, and hurry, or I'm going to crash!

UP NEXT: What Am I Writing Now? -- A snippet of what I'm currently working on.

Write What You Know

I'm pretty sure I've touched on the topic of "write what you know" before. My apologies if this post seems repetitive (I hope not!), but a scene I'm currently writing reminds me of this little dictum.

So, you claim you haven't experienced enough things to write about? You can't write about a character jumping off of a bridge because you've never done it?

I've never jumped off of a bridge either, but I can still pull from my experiences to aid in writing such a scene. Writing what you know isn't just literal (though it can be in some instances)--if that were the case, I definitely wouldn't be writing fantasy! Even if you think your knowledge and experience is limited, you have a lot more to use than you realize.

No matter our experience, we all have emotions, and different situations bring different emotions. It's these emotional experiences we need to tap into when writing. Emotions are what we know.

How do you think having to jump off of a bridge into rushing water to escape from a rabid pack of unicorns feels like? You think you might be afraid? Maybe even nervous? I sure would! You'd have to make the decision to risk being skewered by the oncoming horns or risking bashing your head on the rocks below. I'm sure you've had to make a hard decision between two bad choices in your life. So you take what you have experienced and translate it to the situation you're writing about.

Emotions are important to have on the page, they bring your characters to life. And you know emotions. Every human does. So you can write what you know. And don't forget that!

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Some updates.

Sorry for the delayed blog post. I'm still trying to find a balance between tending to the baby and writing life. She is not making it easy by changing up her patterns every couple of days. My first child was so much more predictable! Hopefully, I'll manage to blog once more this month.

I did get some writing done in January though. I play the game Valley of Unicorns, and they ran a short story contest, so I managed to write up a 4000 word story. To view it, you need to register, so it's understandable if no one wants to do so. But if you do decide to register, follow the link to read "Winter Wishes", which is under my forum name, Jadeunicorn.

Also, I finally received my rejection from Harper Voyager for The Mind Behind the Mind. I'm sad it wasn't accepted, but I'm still pleased the novel made it to the final round. It will find a home one day, or I'll make it a home (after I write the other two novels in the trilogy)!

And don't forget about Writing Quest - February. I am still running the event monthly, and they can always be found on my Facebook page.

Happy reading and writing!

UP NEXT: Writing with an Infant