Trudging through the muck
Sep. 19th, 2009 04:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eirenicalOh good lord, am I dragging with trying to get back into working on ARBAON. I keep trying to write scenes, getting partway into them and realizing that the scene has virtually no purpose except for me trying to show that I haven't forgotten a character. And a comment on FF.net that someone left me has been niggling around in the back of my brain. They commented that Billy being the Platinum Ranger kind of popped out of nowhere. So, I re-read it, and you know... it did. *grumps* So now, every time I try to introduce a new twist on the plot, I keep asking myself, "Did I foreshadow this enough or at all? Did I need to? Can I go back and add it in without ruining the flow of the plot? Good lord, I don't want it to seem like I'm thwacking people in the head with it... but I don't want it coming out of nowhere, either! Raaaaawgh!!" *headdesk*
Stupid constructive criticism that was actually constructive. *grumblegrumble* Now I need to figure out what to do with it...
Bleh.
Today's word count (even though I may scrap it all tomorrow): 994
Total word count: 44,820
Zhane pulled the blanket off and swung his feet to the floor. The world tilted crazily for a moment, testimony to how very little rest and food he'd had the past few days. He froze, waiting for the room to stop moving. *Gods... what a mess I am...* It hadn't escaped him what a horrid time this was for a Ranger to be out of action, either. He once again cursed himself for being ten kinds of a fool. By the time he was finished mentally berating himself the world felt like it had stopped spinning, so he took a deep breath and stood up.
*All right, genius. Now what?* He didn't want to go traipsing around someone's home as if he owned it, but neither did he wish to leave without at least thanking his host. After a moment's deliberation he decided that not showing gratitude would be the worse transgression. Using the furniture as a guide in the dark, he slowly made his way towards the wall. He doubted that a person caring enough to shelter a stranger would leave said stranger completely alone. Even though this was Earth, not KO-35, he still felt that a fair assumption. So, it stood to reason that there would be at least one person in the house with him. He just had to figure out where.
Feeling along the wall led him to an exit. Now that his vision was adjusting to the dark, he could make out a table, chairs... ah. The dining room, and the room beyond -- if Earthlings were anything at all like his people -- would be the kitchen. He backed out of that doorway with a sigh. However hungry he might be, he wouldn't go plundering through his host's kitchen without permission. That just wasn't right, especially with all that this unknown person had done for him already.
He felt a little further along the wall until he found another exit, a hallway this time. He began walking down the hall looking for some sign of life. A soft glow off to his right drew him into another room. There was no one in here either, just more furniture, some bookshelves, one of those Earth vidscreens -- What had Cassie called them? Ah... TVs -- and there were pictures. A lot of them. All over the walls. Zhane couldn't restrain his curiosity any longer and began walking around the room examining each photograph. The majority of them seemed to be of a young woman, a young man, and someone that Zhane assumed to be their child -- one of the two who had found him in the park. He had suspected as much, but he hadn't suspected the other truth revealed in these pictures: the young man's mother was the very same woman that he'd found practicing martial arts that morning. Now _there_ was an unlikely coincidence for you...
As Zhane's eye followed the photographs, he noticed that they were arranged in a progression of time, the young man getting older and older in each one until the very last one in which he matched almost exactly with Zhane's mental image of him from earlier that day. Zhane looked closer at that picture. The boy was outside in some sort of wooded area, his arm around the shoulders of the sandy-haired youth that had also been with him today. On the other side of the blond stood the young woman. All three were smiling. Zhane nearly found himself smiling in response. There was such warm, open affection between the three that it easily reached out of the paper to snare the unwary observer. It made Zhane want to know these people, to become friends with these people. He chuckled ruefully. It made him want to *find* these people. But first, the rest of the photographs.
He followed the progression of pictures back to the earliest one -- when the dark-haired boy was only a baby -- and as he did, he became aware of something out of place. While it could clearly be seen in the procession of photos that both men had aged, the woman looked the same in the first picture as she had this morning. Not a single wrinkle marred her smooth skin, though her husband’s was beginning to show the track marks of the emotions he felt most frequently. Not a single strand of gray graced her mane of ebony hair, though it liberally spiced her husband's. Most humans showed at least *some* sign of advancing age over the course of 20 years, both here and everywhere else in the Universe. Naturally -- or unnaturally, as the case may be -- there were a hundred ways to explain the lack of them. Maybe she had really good skin. Perhaps she dyed her hair. But there was something else out of place, as well. Something other than the age discrepancy that was screaming that it was unusual. Something in that first photograph... His eyes widened in shock when he finally figured out what it was. It was her necklace. He had seen it somewhere before -- or one so like it that it could be its twin. The pendant was a stylized version of the seals of Triforia and Altiyar... and Prince Trey had one just like it. Perhaps he *hadn't* imagined it when he saw one of the Gold Ranger's spin kicks in the woman's kata this morning... But how was that possible? None of this made any sense...
And he had the oddest feeling that he had seen that necklace somewhere else... a very long time ago. It wasn't like him to be unable to put a finger on a memory. He lifted his hand, tracing the outline of the necklace, eyes gone unfocused in thought.
"Hey, he *is* awake! How're you feelin', man?"
So intent upon his failing memory had Zhane been that he'd failed to hear the footsteps approaching from further up the hall. He jumped, ashamed to have been caught poking around someone else's home *by* the someone else, and locked eyes with the young man from the photographs. Next to him were three others: the sandy-haired young man, a long-haired man that he didn't recognize, though he was the one who had spoken, and the woman he'd met this morning. Her eyes locked onto the spot on the photograph where his hand had been while her own hand slowly rose to rub at her collarbone... where the necklace would rest if she were wearing it...
...And the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. He didn't know how he'd missed it earlier, but with all four of these people together, it was impossible to miss it now. His eyes widened as all the little details formed up into a whole picture... "You're all Rangers!"
*Oh shit... did I say that out loud?* Zhane clapped his hands over his mouth, face doing a slow burn. *Wonderful, Zhane. Way to make a good first impression...*
Fortunately for all concerned, the dark-haired woman stepped into the sudden silence with a smile, "Well, that saves me quite a few explanations, Zhane. Thank you." She placed her hand in the crook of his left elbow as he slowly lowered his arms, "If I may introduce everyone?" At his nod, she continued, "I'll start with myself, then. My name is Aerin, and as you may or may not have guessed, I am the Green Darkstar Ranger."
Stupid constructive criticism that was actually constructive. *grumblegrumble* Now I need to figure out what to do with it...
Bleh.
Today's word count (even though I may scrap it all tomorrow): 994
Total word count: 44,820
Zhane pulled the blanket off and swung his feet to the floor. The world tilted crazily for a moment, testimony to how very little rest and food he'd had the past few days. He froze, waiting for the room to stop moving. *Gods... what a mess I am...* It hadn't escaped him what a horrid time this was for a Ranger to be out of action, either. He once again cursed himself for being ten kinds of a fool. By the time he was finished mentally berating himself the world felt like it had stopped spinning, so he took a deep breath and stood up.
*All right, genius. Now what?* He didn't want to go traipsing around someone's home as if he owned it, but neither did he wish to leave without at least thanking his host. After a moment's deliberation he decided that not showing gratitude would be the worse transgression. Using the furniture as a guide in the dark, he slowly made his way towards the wall. He doubted that a person caring enough to shelter a stranger would leave said stranger completely alone. Even though this was Earth, not KO-35, he still felt that a fair assumption. So, it stood to reason that there would be at least one person in the house with him. He just had to figure out where.
Feeling along the wall led him to an exit. Now that his vision was adjusting to the dark, he could make out a table, chairs... ah. The dining room, and the room beyond -- if Earthlings were anything at all like his people -- would be the kitchen. He backed out of that doorway with a sigh. However hungry he might be, he wouldn't go plundering through his host's kitchen without permission. That just wasn't right, especially with all that this unknown person had done for him already.
He felt a little further along the wall until he found another exit, a hallway this time. He began walking down the hall looking for some sign of life. A soft glow off to his right drew him into another room. There was no one in here either, just more furniture, some bookshelves, one of those Earth vidscreens -- What had Cassie called them? Ah... TVs -- and there were pictures. A lot of them. All over the walls. Zhane couldn't restrain his curiosity any longer and began walking around the room examining each photograph. The majority of them seemed to be of a young woman, a young man, and someone that Zhane assumed to be their child -- one of the two who had found him in the park. He had suspected as much, but he hadn't suspected the other truth revealed in these pictures: the young man's mother was the very same woman that he'd found practicing martial arts that morning. Now _there_ was an unlikely coincidence for you...
As Zhane's eye followed the photographs, he noticed that they were arranged in a progression of time, the young man getting older and older in each one until the very last one in which he matched almost exactly with Zhane's mental image of him from earlier that day. Zhane looked closer at that picture. The boy was outside in some sort of wooded area, his arm around the shoulders of the sandy-haired youth that had also been with him today. On the other side of the blond stood the young woman. All three were smiling. Zhane nearly found himself smiling in response. There was such warm, open affection between the three that it easily reached out of the paper to snare the unwary observer. It made Zhane want to know these people, to become friends with these people. He chuckled ruefully. It made him want to *find* these people. But first, the rest of the photographs.
He followed the progression of pictures back to the earliest one -- when the dark-haired boy was only a baby -- and as he did, he became aware of something out of place. While it could clearly be seen in the procession of photos that both men had aged, the woman looked the same in the first picture as she had this morning. Not a single wrinkle marred her smooth skin, though her husband’s was beginning to show the track marks of the emotions he felt most frequently. Not a single strand of gray graced her mane of ebony hair, though it liberally spiced her husband's. Most humans showed at least *some* sign of advancing age over the course of 20 years, both here and everywhere else in the Universe. Naturally -- or unnaturally, as the case may be -- there were a hundred ways to explain the lack of them. Maybe she had really good skin. Perhaps she dyed her hair. But there was something else out of place, as well. Something other than the age discrepancy that was screaming that it was unusual. Something in that first photograph... His eyes widened in shock when he finally figured out what it was. It was her necklace. He had seen it somewhere before -- or one so like it that it could be its twin. The pendant was a stylized version of the seals of Triforia and Altiyar... and Prince Trey had one just like it. Perhaps he *hadn't* imagined it when he saw one of the Gold Ranger's spin kicks in the woman's kata this morning... But how was that possible? None of this made any sense...
And he had the oddest feeling that he had seen that necklace somewhere else... a very long time ago. It wasn't like him to be unable to put a finger on a memory. He lifted his hand, tracing the outline of the necklace, eyes gone unfocused in thought.
"Hey, he *is* awake! How're you feelin', man?"
So intent upon his failing memory had Zhane been that he'd failed to hear the footsteps approaching from further up the hall. He jumped, ashamed to have been caught poking around someone else's home *by* the someone else, and locked eyes with the young man from the photographs. Next to him were three others: the sandy-haired young man, a long-haired man that he didn't recognize, though he was the one who had spoken, and the woman he'd met this morning. Her eyes locked onto the spot on the photograph where his hand had been while her own hand slowly rose to rub at her collarbone... where the necklace would rest if she were wearing it...
...And the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. He didn't know how he'd missed it earlier, but with all four of these people together, it was impossible to miss it now. His eyes widened as all the little details formed up into a whole picture... "You're all Rangers!"
*Oh shit... did I say that out loud?* Zhane clapped his hands over his mouth, face doing a slow burn. *Wonderful, Zhane. Way to make a good first impression...*
Fortunately for all concerned, the dark-haired woman stepped into the sudden silence with a smile, "Well, that saves me quite a few explanations, Zhane. Thank you." She placed her hand in the crook of his left elbow as he slowly lowered his arms, "If I may introduce everyone?" At his nod, she continued, "I'll start with myself, then. My name is Aerin, and as you may or may not have guessed, I am the Green Darkstar Ranger."
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-09-19 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-20 01:49 am (UTC)And yeah... she kinda does, doesn't she? ^___^