Janeth's Story

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Janeth
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Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2005 1:35 pm

Janeth's Story

Post by Janeth »

Hi everyone, I've finally decided to write a story. Don't know why I didn't until now...guess I was just too busy, or lazy. =P This is my first attempt at writing a story, so feedback would be appreciated. ^.^
OOC character notes: Rosepetal is my brother's mule, and since she's a Mithra, I decided to use her in this story. ^^ Minimax is one of my brother's characters, and since he's, uh...from Windurst...I decided to use him. Besides, my brother asked me to. :P

Janeth's Story

Chapter 1: The Picnic in Tahrongi Canyon
My earliest memory is that of the time my mother took me and my sister, Rosepetal, on a picnic in Tahrongi. This was when I was very young, long before the Great War. Tahrongi was a nicer place than it is now. It was ruined in the war by powerful magic, the likes of which Windurst shall never repeat. Back then, it looked more like Sarutabaruta, endless grasslands and flowing rivers. It was also less dangerous back then, for the Yagudo did not roam nearly so far before the war. They generally stayed in Giddeus, often venturing out to Sarutabaruta, but never as far as Tahrongi. So you see, it was much safer in Tahrongi then, as long as you stayed far away from the Poltergeists, and you didn't provoke the dhalmels. How I miss those days...

My mother set up the picnic blanket while us kids played in the tall grass. I noticed Rosepetal was straying a bit far from camp. I was worried she'd get lost, so I ran after her. "Rose, be carrreful!" I shouted. "You don't want to get lost!" But she ran ahead, oblivious to my warnings. Soon, she had led us so far, I didn't even know where I was anymore. I could only hope that we were safe, that we would find our way back, that...I didn't even want to think about what might happen. "It's alrrright, we won't get lost. I know my way arrround this place." she replied. I wasn't convinced. She led us ever farther, straying far off the path. It began to get dark, and I knew we'd stayed out here a lot longer than we should have.

Presently, I spotted a wolf-like creature in the distance. "Rose, you might want to avoid that-" But she was walking right into it. She didn't seem to notice it. It turned to us, and I froze. She screamed. "Run!"
"Run wherrre?" I said. "You got us lost!" She didn't seem to know what to say to this; she didn't know her way back either.
"I've got a bit of skill with the sword. Mom's been teaching me." I said. "I might be able to hold it off awhile..."
And so I tried fighting back, using every ounce of skill I had. But all my training was not enough. It scratched at me with its claws. A gaping wound opened on my arm. I cried out in pain.

"It's too tough forrr me," I said. "I can't beat this thing."
"Then run!" said Rosepetal. "Just run anywherrre!" And we ran. We'd ran some distance in a random direction when I saw a small Tarutaru boy off in the distance. He was alone, too, so I assumed he was lost.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"No," I said, panting. "There's a...a wolf or something chasing us."
"And we're lost." added Rosepetal. "Because of you," I snapped.
"Follow me." said the little boy. "I know the way out of here."
Just then, the wolf caught up to us.
"Arrre you strrrong enough to kill that thing?" I asked him.
"No, not nearly-wearly." he replied.
"Then we'll just have to rrrun." I said. "Which way?"

He pointed in the direction of a small mountain range, similar to Ahropahgo but not as big. "Is that Ahropahgo Pass?" I asked him. "No." he replied. He ran in between the mountains and motioned for us to follow. We followed, but so did the wolf. He led us expertly through the maze of rocks, and we quickly emerged on the other side. He wasted no time in showing us which way to go next. In no time, we were back at the picnic blanket, where Mom sat, crying. "I was so worrrried about you!" she said, clearly happy to see us, but at the same time, mad that we'd run off. The wolf caught up again, and wasted no time in attempting to tear me to pieces.

But this time, Mom was there. She killed it easily. We then had to sit through her long speech about how worried she was and how we must never, ever run off again.
"You could have been killed!" she shouted. "You rrreally must learn to be morrre careful!" You know, the usual "mom" speech. "And what happened to your arrrm?" She was clearly disappointed in me. But I could tell she was happy to see us. I knew she'd been worried. She always was. "We're sorrry, Mom.." we intoned.
I tried my best to explain. "Rosepetal was rrrunning ahead, and I just wanted to make sure she was OK..." Hearing someone accuse her, Rosepetal tried to respond. "I could have dodged that wolf, if you weren't therrre!" "And then gotten lost!"
Our mom stopped the fight almost before it started. "Rosepetal, don't ever rrrun off like that again. And don't think you didn't do anything, Janeth. Next time, if Rosepetal runs away, don't run afterrr her, tell me."
"Yes, Mom." we said in unison. I looked around and realized that the little Tarutaru boy had gone. I never got to thank him...

So we left Tahrongi, and after that incident, Mom never took us there again. We took the usual path home, which involved walking in the river. Sometimes Mom let us play in the river...Not today. We both had a sense that we'd done something terrible, and Mom's attitude only encouraged that. When we got home, Mom left Rosepetal with a friend of hers, who often baby-sitted her when Mom and I were busy, and took me to see a healer, who mended the cut on my arm.

"Perrrhaps..." said my mother to me when we got out of there, "Perrrhaps you'd be safer if you learned a bit of magic. Then you can heal your own wounds." "But Mom, I like learning swordplay." I replied. "I don't want to give that up." "You don't have to," she said. "Nor, I'm sure, would you want to limit yourself to healing magic. Most healers are quite inept in combat, and I don't think that would suit you at all." So my mother found me a teacher, who was to teach me the basics of magic, for my mother had never studied magic, only the way of the sword.

To Be Continued...

P.S. Please post comments, questions, feedback, etc...This is my first story, and I'd like to know if it was any good. ^^; If this chapter didn't cover much, that's because this is a long story, and there's a lot of chapters. :D

Edited for spelling.
[size=75][color=red]Janeth • RDM62[/color] • Bahamut
[color=green]Windurstian[/color] Rank 6.
Stuff I have in real life that proves I'm obsessed: A Windurstian flag, SMN Artifact armor, RDM artifact armor, and a plush Carbuncle.
Currently working on: WHM AF. My brother and I compromised. >.>
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/Minimaxthetinyone/SMN.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/Minimaxthetinyone/RedMageArtifact1.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/Minimaxthetinyone/RedMageArtifact3.jpg[/size]
[quote="Twotogether"]just because she doesnt do everything that everyone else wants to do
and she doesnt care about what you want her to do
doesnt mean she isnt fun[/quote]
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Janeth
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Posts: 90
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Post by Janeth »

Well, I was going to post a new chapter when I got some feedback, but.... I never did. I guess no one likes my story. :( Well, my brother's been pressuring me to work on this story, so I figured I'd post again anyway. I hope this chapter is better, and I hope there are some replies this time.

Chapter 2: The School of Magic
One day, I was studying under my new mentor when I thought I saw the Tarutaru boy from all those years ago. I called out to him.
"I rrremember you... You're the one who showed me the way back to Ahropahgo."
"He was in Tahrongi?" asked my teacher.
"Yes," I replied. "He saved me therrre many years ago. I'd never seen him since..."
"That's my son!" exclaimed the teacher. "And I know you've seen him many-wany times before..."
"Maybe I have. Maybe I just didn't know it was him."
"That was you I helped thataru day?" he said.
"Yes, me and my sister."
"I had no idea-wea..."
"Me neitherrr."

I found that his name was Minimax, and he had just started his studies here. We were classmates, studying magic together under the guidance of his father. He wasn't learning everything, though. He was specializing in healing magic. "Why do you only want to learn one kind of magic?" I asked him one day. "Oh, I don't know." he said. "I don't much like destructive magic. Maybe-waybe I'll learn some of that someday." I still thought it rather inferior to only learn one kind, but he was my friend, so I took it upon myself to protect him, knowing that healers were unskilled in fighting, and he seemed especially so. In addition, he was younger than me, and had only just started his training that day when I recognized him, so he was a bit behind me.

One day, Minimax and I were practicing together.
"Since you know Tahrongi so well, maybe we could go explore therrre sometime." I said.
"Maybe," he replied, "But it's prettaruy dangerous there."
I thought it over and said, "What, that wolf thing? I bet we could take him now."
Minimax looked at me for a moment. "Why?" he asked. "Why do you want to go so badly-wadly?"
"Well..." I hesitated. "After that time I almost got killed therrre...my mom neverrr took me there again, and I...I guess I miss it. I'd like to go back, but I'm afraid of getting lost..."
"Well, alrightaru. Wolves only come out at night, anyway."

So we set off for Tahrongi, hoping my mom wouldn't notice we were gone. Mini led us expertly through Ahropahgo, and we ventured to go out a bit further. And a bit further, and a bit further. I was glad to see Tahrongi again. It brought back such memories, memories of my childhood. Eventually, we were farther even than Rosepetal had gone. And still Mini knew the way. We hadn't run into any wolves yet. Mini said they only came out at night, that we had nothing to worry about. So we happily explored, taking care not to provoke the dhalmels. We neared the other side of Tahrongi, dangerously close to Meriphataud, which my mom said never, ever to go to, for it was full of raptors that would attack you on sight. I didn't even want to know what a raptor was.

I saw a strange monster off in the distance, something I'd never seen before. It walked on tiny legs, so tiny it almost seemed to float. Its body was much bigger, a dark reddish color, with a malevolent face on the front. Its absurd proportions seemed almost comical, until I noticed the weapon strangely suspended above its head. I pointed this out to Mini, who looked at it and immediately panicked. He kept a safe distance from it, so I assumed it was dangerous. After all, he knew this area a lot better than me.

"Mini...do you know what that is?" I asked.
"Yes, I know. All too well." he replied, with a note of panic in his voice.
"W...What is it, then?" I said, shaking with fear.
"It's...a Poltergeist." he said. "It's very powerful."
"Will it attack us?"
"It will if we get too close."
"Can't we just walk by when its back is turned, like we do with the Yagudo?"
"Nope. They don'taru attack when they see you, they attack when they hear you. And what's more, they can detect magic-wagic and will attack if we cast anything."

The creature crept closer.
"Stay perfectly still." Mini warned me. "If you don't move, it can't hear you."
I followed his advice, hoping a sudden movement or something wouldn't give me away.
"So that's a Poltergeist..." I said, making sure only Mini could hear me. "Mom always told me to stay away frrrom those. Now I see why.?
Mini nodded in agreement. "I wish it were easier to stay away from them.
I was afraid to move. We stood there quaking with fear for what seemed like an hour, although I knew it wasn't. The poltergeist walked around us, never quite going far enough away that we could run.
Eventually we saw someone walking past. He wore a hooded cloak, and carried a staff. We called out for help, hoping he could get rid of them. He glanced over in our direction, and thought for a moment.

"I can help you," he said, "but please don't tell anyone what you see here."
"Ok!" I said, thrilled to be out of there.
The stranger began to cast a spell. It took a long time to cast, longer than any spell I'd seen. Luckily, he was far enough from the poltergeist that it didn't notice him. As he finished his incantation, a strange glowing circle appeaed on the ground, and a small blue creature materialized out of nowhere. Mini and I could only gape in awe. It ran over and attacked the poltergeist. Mini and I both sighed with relief.

"Thank you." I said.
The poltergeist was dead in no time.
"No problem." he replied.
The creature he'd summoned ran back to where he stood.
"But why shouldn't we tell anyone?" I asked.
The summoned creature disappeared.
"Because my branch of magic is forbidden." he said.
I replied, "I see. I won't tell."
Mini looked a little uncertain.
"What's wrrrong?" I asked my companion.
"Nothing...nothing at all..." answered Mini.
"Good bye, then." he said. "I hope to see you again someday."
"Good bye..." I said.

To be continued...
[size=75][color=red]Janeth • RDM62[/color] • Bahamut
[color=green]Windurstian[/color] Rank 6.
Stuff I have in real life that proves I'm obsessed: A Windurstian flag, SMN Artifact armor, RDM artifact armor, and a plush Carbuncle.
Currently working on: WHM AF. My brother and I compromised. >.>
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/Minimaxthetinyone/SMN.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/Minimaxthetinyone/RedMageArtifact1.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/Minimaxthetinyone/RedMageArtifact3.jpg[/size]
[quote="Twotogether"]just because she doesnt do everything that everyone else wants to do
and she doesnt care about what you want her to do
doesnt mean she isnt fun[/quote]
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Jexen
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Post by Jexen »

^^

Was browsing the boards out of boredom and saw yer story. Read both of the chapters, I like it a lot. :D Keep updating!
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Janeth
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Post by Janeth »

Chapter 3: Minimax's Betrayal
Mini and I headed back to town, not wanting to do any more exploring after that. I debated with myself over whether I should tell Rosepetal. I doubted she would tell anyone important or anything...but she might tell Mom, and Mom would definitely tell the authorities. I decided against it. This would be mine and Mini's little secret. But the next day, I realized that Mom had somehow found out.

"I hearrrd you went out to Tahrongi the otherrr day." she said.
"How...how do you know?"
"Oh, a little birrrdie told me. What's important is, you'rrre not supposed to go out therrre. Not afterrr what happened last time."
I hung my head. "But I'm alrrright, aren't I? Nothing bad happened!"
"I know about that, too. You went too farrr, and almost got attacked by a Poltergeist. I thought I taught you betterrr...I thought you knew to stay away frrrom them..."
"I do know that! I just didn't know what they looked like! Besides, I'm okay now. Nothing bad happened, rrright? It's not like we got close to the poltergeist, we trrried to stay at a safe distance!"
"Yes, you 'trrried'. I know who saved you, too."
"But...but...it was a secret! How did you...?"
"I can see why. You shouldn't trrrust people like that."
"Why? He seemed nice, he saved us!"
"There's nothing nice about forrrbidden magic. He may not want you specifically to die, but that doesn't make him nice."

I gave up. There was no convincing her. I went to tell Minimax about this. He was behind the school, practicing magic. That was sort of our "hangout"; it was where we went when we didn't want anyone to find us. We'd marked this spot on our maps, and that mark is probably still there to this day. He looked up at me as I approached. His expression seemed nervous, as if he knew he wouldn't like what he was about to hear.
"Minimax..."
"What is it?"
"My mom knows we went to Tahrongi Canyon, and she knows about the poltergeist...She even knows about the summoner!"
Minimax looked stunned.
"I wonder how this happened." I said.
"Yeah..."
"You don't know anything about this, do you?"
"Well..."

Mini's expression was evasive. He seemed to be thinking of how best to answer.
"You didn't tell, did you? Did you? Please tell me it wasn't you..."
"It...it was...me. I did tell. But I didn't tell your mom."
I looked at him in disbelief. "It was you? Why?"
"Well...I...it was forbidden! I had to tell someone..."
"Who did you tell?"
"My parents. They alerted the authorities, and I don't know how your mom found out."
I heaved a sigh. "Now I bet everyone knows..."
"So? What's wrong with that?"
"Mini, we let that guy down. We promised him we wouldn't tell."
Tears streaked down my face as Mini yelled, "He was doing something forbidden! Of course we should tell someone! Just like we'd tell someone if he was stealing something, or trying to kill someone!"
"Mini...what's happened to you? You used to be my frrriend...I used to think I knew you!"
I ran away, crying.

I ran home, ran to where Mini couldn't come. I felt like I never wanted to see him again. I'd thought Mini was my friend...I thought he was someone I could trust. I guess I was wrong... I felt betrayed, like I had no real friends left.
"How could this happen?" I wondered out loud.
"What did you say?" asked Rosepetal. I hadn't noticed she was here.
"I, uh...nothing." I replied.
"C'mon, I'm your sisterrr. I know when something's wrong."
"Well...I guess I'll tell you. I don't even know wherrre to start."
"Start anywherrre. It's alright."
"Ok, here goes: Minimax and I went to Tahrongi Canyon--"
"I thought we werrren't supposed to go there?"
"We arrren't...but I...I missed the place. I needed to go back."
"I see."

"As I was saying, Mini and I went to Tahrongi Canyon. He said he knew his way arrround, and we went rrreally far, and there was a poltergeist. It was really creepy-looking. And Mini said not to move, or it'll attack us. So we were afrrraid to move, we just had to wait till someone came. And eventually someone did come, and they summoned something, and it killed the polterrrgeist. And he said not to tell anyone, because summoning magic is forrrbidden. And I promised I wouldn't tell, and I neverrr did tell anyone but you. But Mini told his parrrents, and they told someone imporrrtant, I don't know who, and somehow Mom found out. And...and...I neverrr thought Mini would do something like this..." I burst into tears.
"It's alright. Please calm down. I don't like to see you crying."
"I'm sorry. It's just...Mini was my best friend. He was the one I could tell my secrets to. If he hadn't been there, I would have told him anyway. And now I can't trust him anymore..."
"I understand."
"Now you'rrre the only one I can trust. Please, keep the secret."
"But I thought everrryone already knew?"
"Some people, yes. But not everrryone. Let's keep it that way."
Rosepetal nodded. "If you say so."

Mini and I were never quite the same after that. Our friendship had been destroyed. We still studied magic together, but we no longer practiced together after school. We never spoke in classes. I didn't think I would ever trust him again. He was the same. He thought I couldn't be trusted because I "supported rebels" or some such thing. I dutifully continued my studies, but I secretly wished to quit, to take my learning somewhere else, simply because I couldn't deal with Mini anymore. I wanted to get away. My heart was broken. I didn't know what to do.

Through Rosepetal, I got to know Mini's sister, Meree, who was even younger than he was, and a friend of Rosepetal's. She was rather like my sister in that she had little desire for the adventurer's life. Like Rose, she liked to cook, but she wasn't quite as good at it. She admired my story of what had happened that day in Tahrongi, and I found that Mini had told her something totally different. I knew she still looked up to Minimax, but she seemed to like me, too. It comforted me, in a way, that Mini's sister cared about me. I don't know if this was because I knew it would make Mini jealous, or simply because she was a new friend. She was soon to be enrolled in the school of magic where Mini and I studied, learning only white magic, like Mini. I didn't quite know why she wanted to learn magic, since she wasn't interested in adventuring. I supposed she just wanted to help others, or perhaps it was a family tradition. At first I thought Mini meant more to her than me, but she showed me that that was false. That was just what she wanted Mini to think. She was smarter than I gave her credit for. She actually agreed with me about what had happened in Tahrongi. And although she pretended to Mini that she hated me, she'd often give me things, even if she had little to give. She was what kept me happy despite Mini's betrayal.
[size=75][color=red]Janeth • RDM62[/color] • Bahamut
[color=green]Windurstian[/color] Rank 6.
Stuff I have in real life that proves I'm obsessed: A Windurstian flag, SMN Artifact armor, RDM artifact armor, and a plush Carbuncle.
Currently working on: WHM AF. My brother and I compromised. >.>
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/Minimaxthetinyone/SMN.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/Minimaxthetinyone/RedMageArtifact1.jpg
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c201/Minimaxthetinyone/RedMageArtifact3.jpg[/size]
[quote="Twotogether"]just because she doesnt do everything that everyone else wants to do
and she doesnt care about what you want her to do
doesnt mean she isnt fun[/quote]
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Pheonixhawk
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Post by Pheonixhawk »

I like it. It sounds like an awesome story.
DRK 75, RDM 75, 65 PLD

"If I could have a bot program. I'd have an Auto-Tarupunt one. You know. As soon as you go AFK it punts all taru within the area. Priceless" ~ Blackwing of Phoenix Server
xaresity
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