McCloud
March 24th, 2008, 08:14 PM
I figure that since the rest of you are posting book threads, I might as well too. ^^
So this is a series I'm working on called 'The King's Book,' in case the title didn't give it away. ^^'
~*~*~
Days since the Retrieval began: 46
It’s been a month and a half, but I finally found what I was looking for. The ruins are not in the desert, like I thought originally, but in the mountains to the Northeast that border it. After taking a bit to catch my breath, I found myself wishing I had brought more than the usual gear. After the first room, I can appreciate why nobody’s made it any further before. I’ll write more after I take a quick nap and get through the next room.
P.S.: Remember to get a new jacket
It had been a month and a half since he had left home to go out on his mission. What mission? He had been given the task that had been assigned to countless Retrievers before him, and yet had never been fulfilled: Find the Fountain of Youth. It was the job to end all jobs, and would probably keep him financially set for the rest of his life, assuming he found the thing. Of course, knowing his luck, odds were that he would be the first one to find the Fountain.
‘He’ is a Retriever, a person who makes a living out of finding things that have been lost to the relentless power of Time, and one of the best in the business. He is so good at what he does, in fact, that people in the Retrieving line of work refer to him as King, although that may be due to the fact that no one actually knows his name. No one actually crowned him, and he isn’t the king of an actual nation either. People call him King because that is what he calls himself. It’s on his Retriever’s license and everything.
How did King come to the position he was in? Years of practice. Even before King had become the young man he was at the time, he had been a genius Retriever. Whether it was insane luck, immeasurable skill, or some kind of divine protection, King had always had a gift for saving history from being destroyed by Time. He found out that he had that gift when he was fourteen and began practicing to take the Retriever’s license exam for when he turned sixteen. When he passed he was given the light orange jacket with two symbols on the shoulders that looked like hands from the side and signified his position as a Retriever. It was at that point that his jobs were recorded and archived with all the rest. For three years, King maintained a near-perfect record for retrieving items, his one black mark being his failure to collect the Genesis Books, a set of tomes that contained knowledge of the first human life. While there is no real proof that he found the books, King kept a record of his travels in his personal journal, the same journal that he chronicled his two undocumented years as an unofficial Retriever, known today as ‘The King’s Book.’ That’s another story. This story, like the one about the Genesis Books, will also go unrecorded and will not be found in the several thousand archived missions in the Retriever’s headquarters.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
King held a hand up to his forehead to shield his eyes from the sun that bore down on him as he shuffled through the sands of the vast desert. He was told that the place to start looking for the Fountain of Youth would be in the desert, but he had been searching for well over a month now. To be honest, he was starting to get a little bored with the sand. To keep him going, he had to remember that good things came to those who were willing to wait. It was the same with the Genesis Books, after all. However, the Genesis Books weren’t hidden in the desert where the temperatures would reach triple digits and bandits weren’t hiding in the dunes, just waiting for someone unsuspecting to just stroll along so they could shake them down for whatever possessions they had. It had almost happened to King. He was jumped by a group of thieves, but he had managed to out-match them in combat. It turned out that luck was on his side when the sandstorm blew in and gave King the advantage of cover. He took the opportunity presented to strike back against the band of thieves and the sandstorm died down shortly after he finished. That was just how he worked: Take advantage of any situation or, if you can’t, make your own.
It was close to noon when King finally decided to take a breather. He sat down to rest and propped up his bright-colored jacket as a temporary source of shade. Worn underneath the jacket was King’s black tank top, which matched his pants, belt, and steel-toed boots. It may not have been the best choice of clothing for traversing the desert, but at least it was comfortable most of the time. Taking a peek out from under his jacket-tent, King was forced to shut his dark brown eyes or else find himself blind for some time. He pulled himself back under his shade and pushed a few of his dark locks of hair out of his face, wiping away some of the sweat as he did so.
“It’s too hot,” he muttered as he looked around at his surroundings. To his left: Sand. To his right: More sand. Behind him: SAND. It seemed that there was nothing to this desert but a sea of dunes… except for that faint silhouette in the distance. Squinting, King tried to get a good look at whatever was out there. He was surprised to find that out there, way off in the distance was a mountain range. Recalling the map of the world inside his head, King remembered that there were mountains in the Northeast desert that acted as a border between two nations. He also remembered that the mountains in that area were prone to earthquakes, which caused landslides on occasion. However, he felt that the mountains would provide a better source of shade than his jacket did and, if he were lucky, it would also have some source of water. Placing his jacket back on his body, King began making his way toward the mountains.
It was a fairly uneventful trek. The sun continued beating down on King, forcing him to take a drink from his canteen that was nearly empty. He hoped that the mountains would be able to provide him with some kind of sustenance, as his supplies had almost entirely run dry. When he reached the mountain range, King let out a heavy sigh of relief and fell to his knees, his breathing becoming heavy from dehydration. He didn’t bother using words to describe his situation. Words took time and energy, the kind he should be spending trying to find a way to keep himself alive. Stumbling along, King kept a hand to the rocks at his side in an attempt to stay balanced while he searched. After a full minute passed, a minute that seemed to drag on for much longer, King heard the sound of moving water. That meant there was a stream or something nearby!
With a sudden rush of energy, King began running toward the sound, hearing it get louder and louder as he ran. He continued to run for a few minutes until he felt like he was going to pass out. Then he passed out.
King woke up hours later as drops of water hit his forehead periodically. He stirred and sat up slowly, wiping the water off of his forehead. Wait… water! King was suddenly alert and he spun around to try and find the source of the water that had been hitting his head. There, not two inches away from him, was a small pool that rose up out of the ground and was completely filled with crystal clear water. There was a small crack in the lining, which explained the dripping, but that didn’t really matter as much as the liquid itself. King threw himself at the elevated pool, dunking his head in and practically drowning in his haste to drink. A few seconds later King drew his head back and inhaled deeply.
“That was great,” he said between gasps as he wiped his drenched hair out of his face. “Okay, now how did I get here?”
~*~*~
And that's not the whole chapter... just all I have so far. Tell me what you think!
So this is a series I'm working on called 'The King's Book,' in case the title didn't give it away. ^^'
~*~*~
Days since the Retrieval began: 46
It’s been a month and a half, but I finally found what I was looking for. The ruins are not in the desert, like I thought originally, but in the mountains to the Northeast that border it. After taking a bit to catch my breath, I found myself wishing I had brought more than the usual gear. After the first room, I can appreciate why nobody’s made it any further before. I’ll write more after I take a quick nap and get through the next room.
P.S.: Remember to get a new jacket
It had been a month and a half since he had left home to go out on his mission. What mission? He had been given the task that had been assigned to countless Retrievers before him, and yet had never been fulfilled: Find the Fountain of Youth. It was the job to end all jobs, and would probably keep him financially set for the rest of his life, assuming he found the thing. Of course, knowing his luck, odds were that he would be the first one to find the Fountain.
‘He’ is a Retriever, a person who makes a living out of finding things that have been lost to the relentless power of Time, and one of the best in the business. He is so good at what he does, in fact, that people in the Retrieving line of work refer to him as King, although that may be due to the fact that no one actually knows his name. No one actually crowned him, and he isn’t the king of an actual nation either. People call him King because that is what he calls himself. It’s on his Retriever’s license and everything.
How did King come to the position he was in? Years of practice. Even before King had become the young man he was at the time, he had been a genius Retriever. Whether it was insane luck, immeasurable skill, or some kind of divine protection, King had always had a gift for saving history from being destroyed by Time. He found out that he had that gift when he was fourteen and began practicing to take the Retriever’s license exam for when he turned sixteen. When he passed he was given the light orange jacket with two symbols on the shoulders that looked like hands from the side and signified his position as a Retriever. It was at that point that his jobs were recorded and archived with all the rest. For three years, King maintained a near-perfect record for retrieving items, his one black mark being his failure to collect the Genesis Books, a set of tomes that contained knowledge of the first human life. While there is no real proof that he found the books, King kept a record of his travels in his personal journal, the same journal that he chronicled his two undocumented years as an unofficial Retriever, known today as ‘The King’s Book.’ That’s another story. This story, like the one about the Genesis Books, will also go unrecorded and will not be found in the several thousand archived missions in the Retriever’s headquarters.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
King held a hand up to his forehead to shield his eyes from the sun that bore down on him as he shuffled through the sands of the vast desert. He was told that the place to start looking for the Fountain of Youth would be in the desert, but he had been searching for well over a month now. To be honest, he was starting to get a little bored with the sand. To keep him going, he had to remember that good things came to those who were willing to wait. It was the same with the Genesis Books, after all. However, the Genesis Books weren’t hidden in the desert where the temperatures would reach triple digits and bandits weren’t hiding in the dunes, just waiting for someone unsuspecting to just stroll along so they could shake them down for whatever possessions they had. It had almost happened to King. He was jumped by a group of thieves, but he had managed to out-match them in combat. It turned out that luck was on his side when the sandstorm blew in and gave King the advantage of cover. He took the opportunity presented to strike back against the band of thieves and the sandstorm died down shortly after he finished. That was just how he worked: Take advantage of any situation or, if you can’t, make your own.
It was close to noon when King finally decided to take a breather. He sat down to rest and propped up his bright-colored jacket as a temporary source of shade. Worn underneath the jacket was King’s black tank top, which matched his pants, belt, and steel-toed boots. It may not have been the best choice of clothing for traversing the desert, but at least it was comfortable most of the time. Taking a peek out from under his jacket-tent, King was forced to shut his dark brown eyes or else find himself blind for some time. He pulled himself back under his shade and pushed a few of his dark locks of hair out of his face, wiping away some of the sweat as he did so.
“It’s too hot,” he muttered as he looked around at his surroundings. To his left: Sand. To his right: More sand. Behind him: SAND. It seemed that there was nothing to this desert but a sea of dunes… except for that faint silhouette in the distance. Squinting, King tried to get a good look at whatever was out there. He was surprised to find that out there, way off in the distance was a mountain range. Recalling the map of the world inside his head, King remembered that there were mountains in the Northeast desert that acted as a border between two nations. He also remembered that the mountains in that area were prone to earthquakes, which caused landslides on occasion. However, he felt that the mountains would provide a better source of shade than his jacket did and, if he were lucky, it would also have some source of water. Placing his jacket back on his body, King began making his way toward the mountains.
It was a fairly uneventful trek. The sun continued beating down on King, forcing him to take a drink from his canteen that was nearly empty. He hoped that the mountains would be able to provide him with some kind of sustenance, as his supplies had almost entirely run dry. When he reached the mountain range, King let out a heavy sigh of relief and fell to his knees, his breathing becoming heavy from dehydration. He didn’t bother using words to describe his situation. Words took time and energy, the kind he should be spending trying to find a way to keep himself alive. Stumbling along, King kept a hand to the rocks at his side in an attempt to stay balanced while he searched. After a full minute passed, a minute that seemed to drag on for much longer, King heard the sound of moving water. That meant there was a stream or something nearby!
With a sudden rush of energy, King began running toward the sound, hearing it get louder and louder as he ran. He continued to run for a few minutes until he felt like he was going to pass out. Then he passed out.
King woke up hours later as drops of water hit his forehead periodically. He stirred and sat up slowly, wiping the water off of his forehead. Wait… water! King was suddenly alert and he spun around to try and find the source of the water that had been hitting his head. There, not two inches away from him, was a small pool that rose up out of the ground and was completely filled with crystal clear water. There was a small crack in the lining, which explained the dripping, but that didn’t really matter as much as the liquid itself. King threw himself at the elevated pool, dunking his head in and practically drowning in his haste to drink. A few seconds later King drew his head back and inhaled deeply.
“That was great,” he said between gasps as he wiped his drenched hair out of his face. “Okay, now how did I get here?”
~*~*~
And that's not the whole chapter... just all I have so far. Tell me what you think!