IronMan Seven - Week One
Aug. 26th, 2007 10:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
laneroseAhh, the joys of cross-posting. XDD I signed up for IronMan Seven over on IJ, which is basically a challenge to create at least 50 words of fic five days out of seven every week for the next seven weeks, and to incorporate into those fics both the weekly theme and one of the seven weekly prompts, using a different prompt each time so that you ultimately use five prompts.
...
It's a little complicated, but it's a lot of fun. Anyway, I decided that since it wasn't crazy enough as it was, that I would also try not to repeat a fandom within any given week. To make a long story short, I have five different ficlets to share with y'all, from five different rather obscure fandoms. (I didn't do the obscure thing on purpose, I swear. It just kind of happened. XDD) Anyways, I'll be posting all of the fics here at the end of each week, though they'll be available one every day or so on IJ.
This week's theme was pain fic. The prompts didn't really lend themselves to physical pain, in my opinion, so it's a bit more emotional in terms of ow. I used Tales of the Abyss, Nana, Saiunkoku Monogatari, Kaze no Stigma, and Romeo x Juliet. And without further ado,
Curse
A Tales of the Abyss Ficlet
"Ain't it hard when you discover that, he wasn't really where it's at, after he took from you everything he could steal. How does it feel?"
He had looked up to that man, whose age had never mattered because his skills were so immense. He had been pleased, honored, even, when that man had come to him, had requested his help. He had wanted so badly to be like that tall man, who stood proudly as their leader's right hand and most trusted ally. He would have given anything to stand by that man's side, to be the right hand of the right hand.
Around him, the land was crashing down. He could hear their screaming, the screams of his people – could see them falling, dropping away, disappearing into an abyss from which they could not be recovered. They were dying, drowning, suffocating in agony, and only now – Only now could he tell how off-center his aim had been.
His teachers, his friends, his parents, his house – he had destroyed it. All of it. That man may have arranged it, but in the end, the only one responsible for it, the only one who had enough seventh fonons to accomplish it had been him. That man had tricked him, fooled him into believing in his cause, in the future glory of their nation that he had been meant to guarantee.
From the bottom of his heart, Vandesdelca Musto Fende cursed the day he ever laid eyes on Jade Curtiss.
Blinded
A NANA Ficlet
"The path that I have chosen now has led me to a wall, and with each passing day I feel a little more like something dear was lost."
In a way, Nana should have known it was going to happen.
"We need to talk," Ren once said to her. They hadn't really needed to talk, though. She knew what he was going to say before he even pushed her into the chair across from him and gave her that look like there was nothing he wanted to say less than what was about to come out of his mouth. It had been in the way he talked, in the secret conversations that he and Yasu had when they thought she wasn't looking. Facing him, his shoulders slumped and eyes looking away, she had known he would leave her.
And he left.
"I'll see you soon," her mother told her, as the snow fell down around them a chilly December evening. Even as she shivered with the cold, though, watching her mother from the doorway until she at last disappeared from view, Nana didn't expect to ever see that woman again.
And she didn't.
Nana didn't even remember the earlier ones, like her father, but she felt like they had been the same. Her grandmother was sick, and then Hachi was acting strangely – but they had never really surprised her, any of them.
"You'll go solo," the manager said, and Nana didn't have to look behind her to know that Yasu expected her to go. The chance was once in a lifetime, it was true. And in a way it was everything she had ever wanted for herself – to sing, onstage, on the radio, and have people know and love her music.
She wondered, for the first time, if maybe the people who left her had been as blind-sided by their own words as she was when she opened her mouth and replied "yes."
Payment
A Kaze no Stigma Ficlet
"Forgive me if I seem unkind, you've got your problems, I've got mine."
"KAZUMA!"
Ayano stormed up to him as he entered the Kannagi household. She drew her arm back as she ran towards him. He waited until she was on top of him before dodging effortlessly to one side. She flew past him, landing awkwardly on the floor. Ayano lay there for a moment before looking up at him.
"Kazuma, you bastard!" She said as she jumped back to her feet. "Where the hell have you been? Father and Ren almost died!"
He looked down at her over the edge of his nose. "Kannagi didn't retain my services. Should I help for free?"
"KAZUMA! You can't do this to them! Even Ren! He – Kazuma, where are you going!"
He didn't even bother to wave as he left.
Silence
A Saiunkoku Monogatari Ficlet
"Don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give you the answer that you want me to."
"I'm your uncle."
The words came out quickly, almost slurred together in his haste to say them and be done with it. Shuurei waited silently before him. Reishin took a deep breath, and began again.
"I know, I know, I should have told you sooner." He laughed humourlessly. "Maybe when you entered the Royal Harem, so that you would know there was someone from the family on the palace grounds who you could go to if your father was unavailable. Or when you started working in Finance, disguised as a boy. But I couldn't do it then…"
He reached out and rested his hand along the side of her face. "And then you were an official. And a governor. And suddenly you had been around the palace for so long that I would have had to explain why it took me so long to say something, and all I could think about was how pathetic it would make me look, to say that I had been afraid to tell you. Afraid of you, my gentle, wonderful, kind niece."
He shook his head and patted the side of her cheek gently. "I'm sorry. I love you."
"Reishin-sama." The head of the Kou clan turned his head to see Kouyuu staring at him from just off the dais.
"Yes, yes, I'm coming," Reishin said. He got slowly to his feet, and turned to walk away.
Behind him, Shuurei's corpse continued to say nothing.
A Gentleman
A Romeo x Juliet Ficlet
"I know someday you'll have a beautiful life. I know you'll be the star in somebody else's sky. But why, why, why can't it be, why can't it be mine?"
Hermione's life would have been easier if Romeo hadn't been such a gentleman.
He smiled at her politely the first time that they were introduced. He sat beside her, and chatted with her, and offered her his hand to dance. Romeo was a good dancer, too – he had not stepped on her foot or whacked her with his elbow, but had glided easily around the room. He even inquired after her family, and whether they were well. She had been worried, because his father was so cold, but Romeo himself was day to his father's night.
It would have been easier if he had said something rude. It would have been easier if he had stomped on her toes, or told her about some long-held grudge he had against her fifth cousin. If only he had even had so much as bad breath, maybe she would never have fallen for him, never wanted so badly for him to love her as his father had promised her he did.
But Romeo was a gentleman.
She loved and hated him for it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Be afraid - next week is smut!fic week. ^.^;;;;;
...
It's a little complicated, but it's a lot of fun. Anyway, I decided that since it wasn't crazy enough as it was, that I would also try not to repeat a fandom within any given week. To make a long story short, I have five different ficlets to share with y'all, from five different rather obscure fandoms. (I didn't do the obscure thing on purpose, I swear. It just kind of happened. XDD) Anyways, I'll be posting all of the fics here at the end of each week, though they'll be available one every day or so on IJ.
This week's theme was pain fic. The prompts didn't really lend themselves to physical pain, in my opinion, so it's a bit more emotional in terms of ow. I used Tales of the Abyss, Nana, Saiunkoku Monogatari, Kaze no Stigma, and Romeo x Juliet. And without further ado,
A Tales of the Abyss Ficlet
"Ain't it hard when you discover that, he wasn't really where it's at, after he took from you everything he could steal. How does it feel?"
He had looked up to that man, whose age had never mattered because his skills were so immense. He had been pleased, honored, even, when that man had come to him, had requested his help. He had wanted so badly to be like that tall man, who stood proudly as their leader's right hand and most trusted ally. He would have given anything to stand by that man's side, to be the right hand of the right hand.
Around him, the land was crashing down. He could hear their screaming, the screams of his people – could see them falling, dropping away, disappearing into an abyss from which they could not be recovered. They were dying, drowning, suffocating in agony, and only now – Only now could he tell how off-center his aim had been.
His teachers, his friends, his parents, his house – he had destroyed it. All of it. That man may have arranged it, but in the end, the only one responsible for it, the only one who had enough seventh fonons to accomplish it had been him. That man had tricked him, fooled him into believing in his cause, in the future glory of their nation that he had been meant to guarantee.
From the bottom of his heart, Vandesdelca Musto Fende cursed the day he ever laid eyes on Jade Curtiss.
A NANA Ficlet
"The path that I have chosen now has led me to a wall, and with each passing day I feel a little more like something dear was lost."
In a way, Nana should have known it was going to happen.
"We need to talk," Ren once said to her. They hadn't really needed to talk, though. She knew what he was going to say before he even pushed her into the chair across from him and gave her that look like there was nothing he wanted to say less than what was about to come out of his mouth. It had been in the way he talked, in the secret conversations that he and Yasu had when they thought she wasn't looking. Facing him, his shoulders slumped and eyes looking away, she had known he would leave her.
And he left.
"I'll see you soon," her mother told her, as the snow fell down around them a chilly December evening. Even as she shivered with the cold, though, watching her mother from the doorway until she at last disappeared from view, Nana didn't expect to ever see that woman again.
And she didn't.
Nana didn't even remember the earlier ones, like her father, but she felt like they had been the same. Her grandmother was sick, and then Hachi was acting strangely – but they had never really surprised her, any of them.
"You'll go solo," the manager said, and Nana didn't have to look behind her to know that Yasu expected her to go. The chance was once in a lifetime, it was true. And in a way it was everything she had ever wanted for herself – to sing, onstage, on the radio, and have people know and love her music.
She wondered, for the first time, if maybe the people who left her had been as blind-sided by their own words as she was when she opened her mouth and replied "yes."
A Kaze no Stigma Ficlet
"Forgive me if I seem unkind, you've got your problems, I've got mine."
"KAZUMA!"
Ayano stormed up to him as he entered the Kannagi household. She drew her arm back as she ran towards him. He waited until she was on top of him before dodging effortlessly to one side. She flew past him, landing awkwardly on the floor. Ayano lay there for a moment before looking up at him.
"Kazuma, you bastard!" She said as she jumped back to her feet. "Where the hell have you been? Father and Ren almost died!"
He looked down at her over the edge of his nose. "Kannagi didn't retain my services. Should I help for free?"
"KAZUMA! You can't do this to them! Even Ren! He – Kazuma, where are you going!"
He didn't even bother to wave as he left.
A Saiunkoku Monogatari Ficlet
"Don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give you the answer that you want me to."
"I'm your uncle."
The words came out quickly, almost slurred together in his haste to say them and be done with it. Shuurei waited silently before him. Reishin took a deep breath, and began again.
"I know, I know, I should have told you sooner." He laughed humourlessly. "Maybe when you entered the Royal Harem, so that you would know there was someone from the family on the palace grounds who you could go to if your father was unavailable. Or when you started working in Finance, disguised as a boy. But I couldn't do it then…"
He reached out and rested his hand along the side of her face. "And then you were an official. And a governor. And suddenly you had been around the palace for so long that I would have had to explain why it took me so long to say something, and all I could think about was how pathetic it would make me look, to say that I had been afraid to tell you. Afraid of you, my gentle, wonderful, kind niece."
He shook his head and patted the side of her cheek gently. "I'm sorry. I love you."
"Reishin-sama." The head of the Kou clan turned his head to see Kouyuu staring at him from just off the dais.
"Yes, yes, I'm coming," Reishin said. He got slowly to his feet, and turned to walk away.
Behind him, Shuurei's corpse continued to say nothing.
A Romeo x Juliet Ficlet
"I know someday you'll have a beautiful life. I know you'll be the star in somebody else's sky. But why, why, why can't it be, why can't it be mine?"
Hermione's life would have been easier if Romeo hadn't been such a gentleman.
He smiled at her politely the first time that they were introduced. He sat beside her, and chatted with her, and offered her his hand to dance. Romeo was a good dancer, too – he had not stepped on her foot or whacked her with his elbow, but had glided easily around the room. He even inquired after her family, and whether they were well. She had been worried, because his father was so cold, but Romeo himself was day to his father's night.
It would have been easier if he had said something rude. It would have been easier if he had stomped on her toes, or told her about some long-held grudge he had against her fifth cousin. If only he had even had so much as bad breath, maybe she would never have fallen for him, never wanted so badly for him to love her as his father had promised her he did.
But Romeo was a gentleman.
She loved and hated him for it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Be afraid - next week is smut!fic week. ^.^;;;;;
