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originally posted in:Art and Stuff
Edited by GammaF88: 2/26/2014 10:02:54 PM
15

Story time, anyone?

I noticed the section of the Art and Stuff home that mentions writers, but I've never seen anything in here of the sort, so I decided to try my hand at something. This is my first time writing creatively in a while, so it's not perfect, but [b]please[/b] feel free to leave constructive criticism below, I'd appreciate the help. I'm making this public so I hope more people can see it and comment. It's not too long, so I'd appreciate if you all could read the whole thing before commenting. [b][u]Thanks![/u][/b] _____________________ONE He walked slowly down the streets of what he once would have called his home. The air would normally have been filled with the sounds of vehicles, of aircraft flying overhead, of people simply living their lives. Now, only the sounds of his own footsteps and his steady breathing remained. He stepped over a piece of metal, so blackened and misshapen it was impossible to tell what it once might have been. His thoughts wandered to the others. How many of them remained? Where were they? The odds of anyone else surviving were slim, of finding them even slimmer, but it was not impossible. He entertained the thought of searching for them for a moment, then forced himself to focus on the mission at hand. Turning his attention to the destroyed cityscape around him, he realized he had lost track of where he had walked. He looked upward. The sun…that shattered skyscraper in the distance…his bearings returned to him. He arrived at an intersection, stepped carefully around the crater that took up most of the open area, and turned north. He walked this way among the ruins for an hour or so, until something changed. Puzzled, he came to a stop. Looking around, his surroundings were no different. The same empty sky, same destroyed buildings, same silent, empty streets. But still, something was off. He clicked the safety off on his rifle and raised it to his shoulder. He looked around again, much more closely this time. A darkened doorway off to his right caught his eye. He flicked on the infrared viewer in his helmet. Nothing appeared on the display aside from the normal background heat. He switched it off again. It bothered him, though, so he raised his rifle to firing position and stepped quietly and slowly toward the door. Each step was smooth and cautious as he advanced. Broken glass crunched underneath his boot, and he paused, holding his breath, and remained motionless. Nothing moved. The air was still. The oppressive silence remained. Something was definitely wrong, however. Every nerve in his body tingled. He lowered his body into a ready stance and crept silently toward the doorway. Then, he was there. One step more, and he would enter the darkness within. He hesitated. His instincts, honed by years of training and combat, screamed at him, warning him away from taking the step that would take him in there. It was impossible for him to shake the feeling that something waited for him, obscured by the darkness inside. He stepped into the shadows. Nothing happened. He held there for a moment, as though surprised by the lack of response the dark gave him. He became unsure of his earlier feelings, but still something bothered him. He couldn’t help but wonder if the constant wear of the last few years of his life had made him too edgy, too jumpy. Then, motion. A shadow exploded toward him from the darkness, and he dove to the side to avoid it. Too slow, the armored being slammed into him, throwing him across the darkened room to hit the wall and fall on the floor in a cloud of dust. The room seemed to spin wildly in random, disorienting patterns. He coughed and struggled to rise. Standing unsteadily, he tried to clear his head and respond to his attacker. He brought his rifle, somehow still in his hands, to firing position and tried to find his enemy in the darkness. He opened up with his rifle into the darkness, and heard a few rounds ping and spark off of the armor of his attacker. Using the direction of the sounds and the flashes as a target, he threw a grenade, closed his eyes, and dove for the floor. The grenade went off with a boom that shook the building around them, and shrapnel flew over him as he lay on the ground. A hole opened up in the floor, and debris fell away into the sub-floors below. His attacker howled, but he could still hear it coming for him. He sprang up and turned on the light on his weapon. Now, he finally saw his enemy. Well over seven feet tall, it was covered from head to toe in black armor. Bio-mechanical muscles showed through the gaps in the armor, little more vulnerable than the metal encasing it. It had a torso similar to that of a human’s, albeit with long arms ending in sharp claws on its hands. The legs, on the other hand, had an extra set of joints, and it had a long, whip-like tail, giving it the appearance of a raptor of sorts. It growled at him, revealing rows of sharp teeth, adding to the appearance. Disoriented by the explosion and blinded by the flash of light, it hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. He sprinted forward, pulled the pin on another grenade, and dropped his rifle. Whether by chance or design, as the rifle fell, the light remained fixed on his attacker. He leaped into the air, curled his hand into a fist and drew it back, and delivered a punch with everything he had behind it into the thing’s face. Metal clashed with metal, sparks flew, and the thing stumbled backwards, stunned by the force of the blow. He took the grenade and shoved it hard into his attacker’s chest. The adhesive normally used to keep it attached to his thigh stuck it there, and he pulled his legs up to his chest and kicked forward as hard as he could. His feet connected, and the thing was knocked flailing over the edge of the hole and into the even deeper shadows below. He hit the ground and looked down just before the grenade went off. The thing vanished in a flash of light and sound. Dust and debris falling down into the many sub-floors of the building were all that remained. The rifle hit the ground. The sound brought him back to his senses. His heart was pounding in his ears, and his breath was loud and heavy inside his helmet. His armor was running diagnostics to determine his and his armor’s status, as well as providing him with information on his surroundings. He silenced the notifications and stood up. The mechanical muscles of his armor moved smoothly with him. Stepping over to his rifle, he picked it up and flicked the light off. After loading a new clip into it, he found the door and walked toward it. He stepped out into the sunlight and was relieved by its warmth. The armor’s power supply began storing energy, and he paused there for a moment, simply enjoying the light. Then, he checked his rifle and armor, and looked upward once again. There was the skyscraper, its broken silhouette standing alone in the skyline among the ruins of the city. He turned toward it and started to walk away. He stopped, and turned to look back at the doorway he had come from. It looked no different from how he found it. Its outer appearance gave no hints of the battle that had raged within hit only a minute before. He pulled out another grenade and tossed it to himself a few times before pulling the pin and giving it an underhand toss toward the door. He turned away and began walking again as the grenade blew up, destroying the front of the building and burying it in thousands of pounds of cement and metal. Dust and debris settled, and all was still once more as he walked on, alone, toward the remains of the skyscraper.

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  • Edited by Gunslinger58319: 2/27/2014 5:35:23 AM
    I look at the the beautiful sky... Then I died... The end

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    • Much better. I could tell a difference between them. And for the better. The context's grammar and structure don't seem to have any flaws. None that I could tell anyway. I enjoyed the content very much. There's only one thing that throws me off, albeit this is a science fiction. The events occurring in the battle with the raptor-like creature when the nameless warrior drops his rifle, to be particular. Although it is a very cool and entertaining concept, the time for the thrown and connected blows, timed grenade, and the creature's fall wouldn't fit within the amount of time it would take for the rifle to hit the ground. By our understanding of physics anyway. Setting that aside though, I thought this revision was very enjoyable. I look forward to the other five parts when you're ready to share them.

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      • Edited by mdwil214: 2/2/2014 1:31:47 AM
        I crouch on the ledge of small building. On the streets below I watch a lone warrior. He seems to be contemplating something, maybe thinking of the past, or maybe leaving memories behind. Either way he seems confused. I decide to follow him. Not in sight, but from the rooftops. He seems wary of his surroundings, and decides to explore the inside of a near building. I climb to the roof of it and listen to the activity on the inside. There is movement. More than just my secret observation. Is he meeting someone? No. There is aggressive movement. By the sound of it there are five hostiles. Should I help? No. I want to see what he can do. It seems there has been a confrontation. The other four hostiles have seemed to have stayed behind. What could their intents be? I cock my head in deep thought. An explosion? My friend seems busy. Silence. No. Another explosion. My companion exits the building, looks back, and tosses a grenade. Does he sense the other four? No time to think. The building falls from under my feet and I crumble with it. If there was flesh on my face it would have formed a smile. I lay in the rubble. Lift my head, and stand. I zoom on my companion with my right sensor as he walks into the distance. Thought is something beautiful to experience. Humans interest me with their fears and worries. I scale the nearest building, and look back to the rubble. I feel a sense of elation, or what I believe it to be. Two lifeforms still exist within the mess. It seems they are trying to escape. No problem. My friend can handle it. I will leave it for him. Humanity has always thought of me a machine. No impressions. Why leave any now? To him, I am non existent, and I will always remain the ghostly shell I am viewed as. I will always remain... "Nameless" :D loved your story... thought I should respect it with a reply :) ps. please excuse any rotten grammar XD

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        • Edited by abba61: 2/5/2014 12:41:20 AM
          Long, in spoiler to be easier to read replies. [spoiler]The three of us sat in the dim penthouse. Captain Rhodes and Corporal Sands were engrossed in topographical maps of the crumbling city. I sat on the patio overlooking the dead urban expanse, a storm was brewing on the horizon. "Looks like a big storm is coming!" I called to Rhodes and Sands. "There is always a storm coming lieutenant" replied Rhodes "And somehow were always at the center of it" "It still doesn't mean I have to like it, Rhodes" I retorted. This felt like the calm before the storm, and I had a feeling it would be a long one. Sure we had seen some pretty crazy shit in our careers, Operation Unending storm, the defense of Sector 7, and the destruction of the [i]Babylon[/i]; this was different, there was no hostiles, everything was just dead. For the tenth time that day I read the mission brief. >>>OPERATION SEPTEMBER SUN<<< //KILO-2 of the 107th regiment, 92nd special forces division are to drop from orbit onto the colony of Kursk near the city of New Johannesburg. Your mission is to scout the Capitol and find any survivors and/or where all colonist have gone. Initial scan of the region have shown no activity of any kind, including indigenous life forms.\\ Other than the crumbled structures and grey skies, the city was a ghost town. It looked like it had been abandoned for years, although no plant life had grown up in the colonist's absence. I found that fact very strange, even though there was obvious signs of a battle, there was just this absence of anything really. A fine layer of grey dust covered everything, giving the city even more of a tomb-like feel. We set up in this skyscraper because it was the tallest sturdy structure in the city, it looked like hell, but wouldn't fall anytime soon. Thankfully the utility elevator still worked so we didn't have to haul our gear up 75 stories to the penthouse. The apartment was generally left unscathed other than some knocked over furniture and and worn facade. It had a good view of the southeastern part of the city and the neighboring river. This section of the city had seen minimal fighting and a good deal of the buildings stood to attest that fact. Unlike the northwest section which had been almost completely decimated. Grabbing my assault rifle , I got up and walked over to the table with Rhodes and Sands. Breaking a ration bar and taking a bite I studied the map. Speaking to nobody in particular, I said "You know I really do hate these things" Sands then asked "The maps or the bars?" "Both," I replied,"The maps never show you what it actually is like in the suck, and these bars taste god awful" Rhodes said irritably "They're better than nothing lieutenant" "Well what crawled up your ass and died" I retorted. I could tell the captain had something big on his mind and the cheerful banter would help ease his mind off whatever it was. "One of our outer perimeter scanners picked up a ghost, it's faint but was there... and it was big, really big" he said "What! The cameras didn't pick up a glimmer! Sands said startled "That's what has me worried, even our enemy's spec-ops teams can't do that, which means there's something else out there and right now it's watching us" said Rhodes "Is our tower secure? I want to sleep knowing I won't get killed" I said. This was bad, really bad. Nothing for days on end and then this? The storm was at our doorstep. "Yes, the east and south stairwells are blocked from the 50th to 57th floors by collapsed levels, and an entire section of the north one is gone from 49th to 55th floors." Rhodes said calmly "Then it's going to be a long night" I said, I looked out the window to see the grey sky and storm even closer, "I just hope I wake up tommorow"[/spoiler]

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          • Edited by SaviorsBlood: 2/26/2014 4:30:58 AM
            Nice detailed descriptions. It involves the reader a lot. You shoukd try your hand at it some more. If any of you guys are interested, here's my (ongoing) Destiny fan fiction, titled "Shachal". It won't be the quickest of reads but i wouldn't mind hearing some feedback from another reference other than the Black Garden. Seeing as how you're all artists of many mediums, i would like to know how my story strikes you. http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post?id=63746321&groupId=39972

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            • I feel like we should all come together to turn this into an epic story :D I've seen those other guys writing stuffs so It could come together nicely :)

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            • i can't raed :(

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            • Wrote a viewpoint, deleted it, wrote another, deleted that too. Damn

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              • Nice

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              • Edited by What Up Essay: 2/2/2014 8:09:29 AM
                There is also a Group called 'The Black Garden'. They are all about Destiny fiction.

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                • Very nice. The momentum and feel grows as you progress in the story. The shadow and dark battle are done well. It has enough vagueness to see the dark, yet good definition to give some visual for impact. I also like how you use the daylight and the dark inner building, gives some great contrast. Be sure to check out the writers group mentioned, you'll find some good folks there.

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                  • Short, but very well written/edited! Have you posted this in The Black Garden's forum? The rifle hitting the ground after the creature hits the floor is a bit odd from a timing perspective, but is some very cool imagery :D

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                    • Updated with grammar fixes & made it a public thread.

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                      • Didn't read into it much, but I can vouch for your grammar, spelling, and syntax.

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                        • Pure badass.

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