Writing Ariana's Story.

[Claire]

[i][right]Blackthorn City. 1979.[/right][/i]
Like most other stories of this nature, it begins in a bedroom.

The room was dark and quiet, except for the muffled sounds of loud music and cacophonous conversations oozing in from the thin crack under the closed door. Most of the space was occupied by a queen bed, dressed in simple lavender sheets. There was an empty chest-of-drawers made of cedar and a floor mirror with a single crack near the top. Someone had attempted to brighten up the dull white walls with generic paintings of waterfalls and pink flowers, hung in ornate white frames. There was a very fine mist of dust clinging to the air. The room hadnâ??t seen a human face in a long time and did not expect to any time soon. Then there was a harsh knock at the door, and it slowly swung open.

â??This is good,â? said a voice, only slightly louder than the roaring soundtrack of the party outside.

Two people slid into the room, clinging to each other like pieces of Velcro. The speaker was a burly young man with shaggy brown hair and a grin that barely fit on his face. He stood with his chest puffed out, straining his long-sleeved plaid shirt that was obviously a size or two too small. Latched to his side was a girl in a short pink dress whose legs seemed to have turned to jelly, but retained their lanky, green bean shape. Her bright red hair fell askew over her face, which emitted a constant stream of drunken giggles.

â??It smells old in here,â? the girl mumbled, letting go of her crutch and sitting clumsily on the bed. The boy shut the door and secured the lock before joining her.

â??Guest room. You wonâ??t notice after a while,â? he said.

He wrapped his bulky hands around clumps of her messy hair and shot forward into an aggressive kiss. Their tongues waged war for several minutes, and probably could have continued endlessly if the girl hadnâ??t pulled away for air.

â??Are you sure your jock buddies wonâ??t miss you downstairs?â? she asked with a smirk.

â??Iâ??m sure,â? he said. â??They know theyâ??d get reamed at beer pong if I was there.â?

They locked lips again, but this time the boyâ??s hands were busy unbuttoning his shirt. He flung it away and reached for the girlâ??s back to undo her zipper. As her dress slid down her skinny frame, she detached from him once more.

â??Are you ready for this?â? she said.

The boy delivered rapid kisses as he struggled to wiggle out of his jeans and help her remove her dress all at once. He forced her down with his flurry of passion and rested his hands on her bare shoulders.

â??Grayson?â? the girl said in between smooches. â??Are you ready?â?

The boy sat up, gasping with a smile. He brushed the hair out of the girlâ??s red eyes, then lightly rubbed her cheek with his thumb.

â??Of course Iâ??m ready.â?

This was a lie, of course, but neither of them knew that yet.

[tbc]

(I'm still in the process of writing this, but I'm hoping to find inspiration and motivation so I can keep it up. I have a ton of ideas and plans for this). Edited August 4, 2010 by Tonks

[Elk]

I like it very much so far! I can't wait for you to continue!
I like the name "Grayson" in particular, because I like names like that.
You write very well and it flows very nicely. The imagery is nice and vivid. This can be something great if you continue with it.

[Claire]

It had been over a month since the party, but Ariana hadnâ??t noticed the progression of time. She was still wearing her dress, zippered halfway, though anyone who looked at her would have seen a heavy black coat and the drab gray pleated uniform skirt she needed for school. Her ears were still ringing from the blasting stereo, and she could still smell the musty air of the bedroom. She had been drunk for more than thirty days. At least, she hoped that was the case.

As she sat on the edge of the tub and stared at the floor, she couldnâ??t feel the cold, hard porcelain, and she couldnâ??t see the gleaming white tiles. Instead, she saw sweaty lips pursed, poised to attack again and again. She saw baby muscles flexing stupidly, and she felt clammy hands in places they didnâ??t belong, spreading waves of nausea with every touch. Vomit surged up from her stomach, but she swallowed hard to keep it from escaping.

Arianaâ??s hands were shaking as they held on to a small piece of white, rectangular plastic. Her bouncing feet counted each passing second. It had been almost five minutes now, but the thought of moving a muscle was almost as disgusting as the memory of the bedroom. She could have lasted a lifetime without giving the plastic device a single glance.

There was a knock at the door.

â??Ariana?â? said the man. â??Are you okay?â?

She gulped again, searching for the will to speak. All she could manage was â??Fine, dad.â?

The man seemed satisfied with her answer, for he walked away without another word. Ariana sighed, though without a smidgen of relief.

Her grip on the device tightened. Seven minutes had flown by - perhaps if she acted now, sheâ??d be graced with a bit of good luck. Ariana grinded her teeth together and held her breath, slowly lifting the device to eye level.

Cut into the front of the plastic was a long square window. It showed a comical picture of a bright pink egg, covered in white plus signs, that would have been cute and cheerful in any other situation. This particular egg burned Arianaâ??s eyes like a freshly chopped onion. She turned to stone at the sight of it, her breath cutting off as if her lungs had been tied in a bow. The desire to crumble away into a smoldering pile of dust overwhelmed her.

Sudden crashing noises from up above startled her out of her frozen state. She inhaled sharply and shifted her focus from the horrible pink egg to the door directly behind it. Then she leapt to her feet and stuffed the harrowing device into the deep pocket of her coat, where no unsuspecting innocent eyes could see it. After a quick glance in the mirror to be certain she wasnâ??t really as green as she felt, Ariana hurried out of the bathroom and up the stairs out of her apartment.

When she emerged on the next level up, she was immediately enveloped in a maelstrom of hot sand. She bundled the thick collar of her coat around her face for protection and made her way into the stands against the wall, where the storm couldnâ??t reach. The thunderous booms continued, but the source was hidden somewhere inside the opaque barrier of whirling sand. Somewhere within the howling wind, Ariana could hear unintelligible voices shouting.

She waited there for only a few minutes before the storm abruptly cleared away, revealing several figures standing in the middle of the floor below. One man towered over the other, his brown tinted skin taut over his bulging muscles. His black hair was tied back to keep out of his beady eyes, and he wore nothing but loose white pants. The other man was a skinny column of flesh topped off by a plume of blood red hair; he looked like a lit match. A black cape billowed softly from his shoulders in the dregs of the wind. His black, militaristic uniform was covered in sand.

Hovering the air a few feet above the mensâ?? heads was a large, orange-scaled creature with menacing talons on its feet and bony horns protruding from its lizard-like head. A ball of fire was gurgling from the tip of its long tail.. The draconic monster leaned into a dive and deftly landed on its feet next to the skinny man with a resounding thud. It then tilted its head back and released a satisfied roar.

Ariana watched the two men shake hands, then the larger one turned and walked out of the building with his head hung sadly. The red-haired man gave his monster a congratulatory pat on the shoulder, then produced a baseball-sized red and white orb from a clasp on his belt. The monster faded from reality into a beam of infrared light and disappeared into the ball. The man directed his attention to the stands.


â??Hey, Ari, did you see that?â? he called.

â??See what?â? Ariana said, standing and walking down the steps to meet him. â??I couldnâ??t make out anything through all that sand.â?

The man sighed with a smile as she reached the floor level. â??Thatâ??s too bad. It was a pretty spectacular victory, even for me.â?

Ariana rolled her eyes and headed back to the stairs leading to the apartment, and the man followed suit.

â??This guy was tougher than most, though,â? he said as they walked into the living area under the gym. â??He started off a little slow with a Hitmonlee that couldnâ??t aim a kick right in the sandstorm and pretty much knocked itself out just crashing all over the place.â?

Ariana wasnâ??t in the mood for a detailed recollection of his recent battle, so tuned him out and collapsed on the couch with her hands in her coat pockets. The egg was still there, searing the skin of her stomach through the cloth. She balled her fists so tightly the knuckles could have torn through her flesh. Her fatherâ??s voice wavered in and out like a shoddy radio signal, interlaced with other crackling feeds from interfering stations in her mind.

â??Of course, Dragonair was no match for Ice Punch--

[i]â??This is fine--â?[/i]

â??--and when he sent out Onix I was actually nervous--â??

[i]â??--guest room, you wonâ??t notice--â?[/i]

â??--Charizard was in top form today, just dancing around every single rock--â?

[i]â??--theyâ??d get reamed at beer pong if I--â? [/i]

â??and Onix just buckled under a couple swipes of Metal Claw--â?
[i]
â??--of course Iâ??m ready--â? [/i]

â??--all it took to finish him off was one burst--â?

[i]â??--of course Iâ??m ready--â?[/i]

â??--and he just accepted defeat real gracefully, unlike most other--â?

[i]â??OF COURSE Iâ??M READY.â?[/i]

Ariana bolted upright, clenching the egg so hard she could feel the plastic bending between her fingers. Frigid sweat cascaded down her back and plastered her uniform to every bit of her body it could touch. Her father had moved into the kitchen, still yammering on and on, too enrapt in his story to notice anything odd about her. Ariana stood and dashed back into the bathroom, barely in line with the toilet before the egg forced everything inside of her up and out.

â??Ari, are you sick?â? said her father as he appeared in the doorway. She slumped over the bowl, coughing and gagging, too weakened to speak. The man ran to the kitchen and returned with a glass of water, which he set on the floor next to her. He lingered in the doorway, watching her heavy breathing with a concerned expression, then gently pulled the door shut.

Ariana stayed there, shivering, clinging to the toilet bowl as if she were about to be swept away by a vicious current. She barely managed slow, wispy gasps for a long while. Her father knocked on the door periodically, just to check on her. When she couldnâ??t respond, he pressed his ear against it to pick up the sound of her staggered breathing. Then he sat on the floor beside the doorway, waiting for her to come back to life.

After a few hours, they fell asleep right where they were.



(Maybe I can manage an update a day! Seems like a decent goal for myself). Edited August 6, 2010 by Tonks

[oxic_berry]

:D i loved the pokemon-world setting! took me by surprise, but i like where you went with the story ^___^ i was a bit confused about the egg though... o_0 still, it was great - i'm looking forward to the next chapter :3

[Claire]

[quote name='oxic_berry' date='09 October 2010 - 09:24 PM' timestamp='1286673894' post='701022']
:D i loved the pokemon-world setting! took me by surprise, but i like where you went with the story ^___^ i was a bit confused about the egg though... o_0 still, it was great - i'm looking forward to the next chapter :3
[/quote]

I think I can safely confirm that the "egg" is the Pokemon world equivalent of a pregnancy test. A pink egg with white plus signs indicates a pregnancy, while I believe I decided a solid blue or black egg would mean the test was negative. I wish I could have gotten far enough into the story for this to be apparent!

I say "safely confirm" because I don't know if I'll be able to keep this story going. I don't read fanfiction and I felt really weird trying my hand at some, despite knowing the Pokemon lore as well as if I'd come up with it myself. I didn't like narrating the story as if the reader didn't automatically know what a Charizard was, but I also wanted to make it a little more accessible to other people. Pokemon weren't supposed to be very present in this story since I had a specific focus on the human characters and their stories. It just so happens that the characters live in the Pokemon realm (though not all of them are canon).

I was really into the idea when I wrote these passages, though. Maybe knowing at least one person wants to read on will help me keep going. Hmmm.