Fic: Copper Dagger
Aug. 7th, 2011 10:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meridian_roseTitle: Copper Dagger
Fandom: Original Fic
Rating: PG
Word Count:
Prompt: For the 30 days of fiction meme prompt #11 a dragon and a princess; also see notes, under the cut
Summary: Elspeth wanted a cat, but she's got a dragon. This is the least of her problems.
Warnings: None
Notes: I struggled with this prompt, trying to find a more original take on it. In the end I settled for this. It's half of the beginning of a children's story I began years back. The story comes from this generator - the whole site is a great resource – and the full outline from the generator is:
character is a....woman with no confidence and a fear of the dark. Their only goal in life is to be a general! But to do so, they must find the Copper Dagger.
Isn't it just their luck? The bad news is...The Evil Vampire Demon, who is inflicted with domineering life-partner -- has sworn to kill them and take the item.- What WILL they do?
In the first draft, Calico was a cat, but I've rewritten and tweaked the story so he's a dragon. I think Elspeth wanted a cat, but got a dragon instead – and she refused to change the name she'd chosen.
Elspeth watched the sun rising through the window. Only when it was fully above the horizon did she dare creep out of bed. She took up her hairbrush and began to pull at her tangled blonde locks, annoyed with herself, as she was every morning.
Elspeth had, she considered, been cursed by three terrible things. She mostly blamed them on her mother, the Queen, who had been MIA since Elspeth had turned two years old.
Elspeth remembered little of the woman who, rumour had it, had been a little too interested in the aquatic life of the many ponds and water features in the castle grounds. MIA was the term used by Colonel Montenegro, who got nervous and confused when anyone asked him too closely about the Queen. He talked vaguely about duty and defence and how some things were, in fact, better left not talked about.
If the kindly Colonel was vague sometimes, however, it was nothing compared to the King. He was not the wisest of kings, nor the most generous, but he was not the cruellest of kings, nor the most terrible, so the people tended to count their blessings and hope he didn’t get any more ideas like the one about sheep counting that had left everyone cleaning sheep poo out of their kitchens for weeks afterwards.
“S’up, sunshine?” came a voice.
Elspeth spun, alarmed. Calico was sat on the windowsill, preening. Calico liked to preen more than anything else in the world. His scales glistened in the morning sunshine.
“It’s not polite to address a princess as 's’up' nor as 'sunshine',” she scolded. Calico gazed at her and then they both laughed.
“So, what are we doing today?” Calico asked. He spread his wings and glided over to the bed. He began to dig his claws into the large purple pillows, barbed tail flicking around in delight.
“Same thing we do every day,” Elspeth said sadly. “Read, walk in the grounds, eat, sleep.”
Calico paused, stretched, and yawned. He opened his mouth so wide that Elspeth could almost see right down his throat. “Sounds like a dream life to me. Except the reading. I have problems turning the pages. Being read to, that's the ticket.”
Elspeth didn't know where tickets came into it, but she ignored him, shaking her head sadly in her despair. She loved reading, but sometimes she wanted to do something else.
“It’s because I’m cursed that I never leave the castle grounds,” she said melodramatically.
Calico made a rude sounding noise. “Curse-smurse,” he said. "You're not cursed and we both know it. I'm a dragon. We have a nose for that kind of thing."
Elspeth's brow crinkled. "You'd smell it?" she asked, puzzled.
Calico sat, tucking his tail around his body. "Um, yes. I'd smell it," he said, without conviction.
"What would it smell like?"
They both considered this for a moment.
"Like bad eggs," Calico said at last. "Yeah. Bad eggs and sheep poo."
Elspbeth was going to look up 'curses: smell of' in the library later, because she was certain Calico was making things up again. Dragons hated to be seen as stupid, and would rather lie than have to admit they didn't know something.
Fandom: Original Fic
Rating: PG
Word Count:
Prompt: For the 30 days of fiction meme prompt #11 a dragon and a princess; also see notes, under the cut
Summary: Elspeth wanted a cat, but she's got a dragon. This is the least of her problems.
Warnings: None
Notes: I struggled with this prompt, trying to find a more original take on it. In the end I settled for this. It's half of the beginning of a children's story I began years back. The story comes from this generator - the whole site is a great resource – and the full outline from the generator is:
character is a....woman with no confidence and a fear of the dark. Their only goal in life is to be a general! But to do so, they must find the Copper Dagger.
Isn't it just their luck? The bad news is...The Evil Vampire Demon, who is inflicted with domineering life-partner -- has sworn to kill them and take the item.- What WILL they do?
In the first draft, Calico was a cat, but I've rewritten and tweaked the story so he's a dragon. I think Elspeth wanted a cat, but got a dragon instead – and she refused to change the name she'd chosen.
Elspeth watched the sun rising through the window. Only when it was fully above the horizon did she dare creep out of bed. She took up her hairbrush and began to pull at her tangled blonde locks, annoyed with herself, as she was every morning.
Elspeth had, she considered, been cursed by three terrible things. She mostly blamed them on her mother, the Queen, who had been MIA since Elspeth had turned two years old.
Elspeth remembered little of the woman who, rumour had it, had been a little too interested in the aquatic life of the many ponds and water features in the castle grounds. MIA was the term used by Colonel Montenegro, who got nervous and confused when anyone asked him too closely about the Queen. He talked vaguely about duty and defence and how some things were, in fact, better left not talked about.
If the kindly Colonel was vague sometimes, however, it was nothing compared to the King. He was not the wisest of kings, nor the most generous, but he was not the cruellest of kings, nor the most terrible, so the people tended to count their blessings and hope he didn’t get any more ideas like the one about sheep counting that had left everyone cleaning sheep poo out of their kitchens for weeks afterwards.
“S’up, sunshine?” came a voice.
Elspeth spun, alarmed. Calico was sat on the windowsill, preening. Calico liked to preen more than anything else in the world. His scales glistened in the morning sunshine.
“It’s not polite to address a princess as 's’up' nor as 'sunshine',” she scolded. Calico gazed at her and then they both laughed.
“So, what are we doing today?” Calico asked. He spread his wings and glided over to the bed. He began to dig his claws into the large purple pillows, barbed tail flicking around in delight.
“Same thing we do every day,” Elspeth said sadly. “Read, walk in the grounds, eat, sleep.”
Calico paused, stretched, and yawned. He opened his mouth so wide that Elspeth could almost see right down his throat. “Sounds like a dream life to me. Except the reading. I have problems turning the pages. Being read to, that's the ticket.”
Elspeth didn't know where tickets came into it, but she ignored him, shaking her head sadly in her despair. She loved reading, but sometimes she wanted to do something else.
“It’s because I’m cursed that I never leave the castle grounds,” she said melodramatically.
Calico made a rude sounding noise. “Curse-smurse,” he said. "You're not cursed and we both know it. I'm a dragon. We have a nose for that kind of thing."
Elspeth's brow crinkled. "You'd smell it?" she asked, puzzled.
Calico sat, tucking his tail around his body. "Um, yes. I'd smell it," he said, without conviction.
"What would it smell like?"
They both considered this for a moment.
"Like bad eggs," Calico said at last. "Yeah. Bad eggs and sheep poo."
Elspbeth was going to look up 'curses: smell of' in the library later, because she was certain Calico was making things up again. Dragons hated to be seen as stupid, and would rather lie than have to admit they didn't know something.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-09 08:30 pm (UTC)I love the interplay between Elspeth and Calico, and the fact that even though she got a dragon, she still gave him a cat's name.
I could picture them, in her bedroom, having this conversation - I love the clarity of your writing and your descriptions.
The description of the king cracked me up.
Thanks for sharing this.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-09 09:02 pm (UTC)Calico morphed nicely into a dragon - and lovely as kitties can be, a dragon is a much more suitable pet for this world.
Thank you. I really appreciate when people take the time to read and comment on original fic. To create readable, enjoyable, fanfic is one thing. To craft something wholly original is a different kind of challenge, and I always appreciate support and concrit :D