Story A Tale of Inspirational-ness!

Being the expert procrastinator that I am, I decided to write a KAG story. Cool right? I know. If you have any criticisms, I'd love to see them posted. Anyways, enjoy the first part of the tale.
~ Hella

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A candle stub sputtered fitfully in a small alcove, casting ragged shadows across rough, earthen walls. The trio had been digging for what seemed an age, unable to properly keep track of the time in the dank, timeless holes; word from the surface occasionally filtered down, although it had all but stopped as of late. The only sounds of the outside world that graced the tunnels now were rare muffled thumps and rumbles, which echoed in the heads of the weary men.

Two of the three huddled close to the candle, leaving the third to continue the painstaking labour of the continuation of the tunnels, chipping laboriously at the dirt in long, deft strokes.
The larger of the two men sitting beside the candle suddenly grunted with impatience, breaking the tentative silence that the group had endured. He attempted to stand, cracking his head sharply against the loose stone of the ceiling, and for a moment his blond hair reflected a fraction of the dim candlelight.
“How long must we spend in this godforsaken pisshole!?”
A flash of annoyance broke the tired mask of the small man to his left; quickly, he quelled the emotion, and it was soon replaced by a wry smile and a raised eyebrow. Unable to keep the smile from his lips, he replied, “Why do you ask again, Bran? You know that we’ve already established that you have nothing better to do with your time.”
“And when did we establish this? Right now, I could be enjoying the greater things in life; I could have a jug of strong wine in the one hand, and a fat whore in the other! What’s the bloody use in being paid wages if you’re stuck in a goddamn pit beneath a field full of whoresons who want to break my head?”
The smile returned to the small man’s face, breaking the consistent scowl. “It teaches you moderation, my friend; a concept that might benefit you greatly…”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean, Marrok!?”
The digger swung his bald head to the pair, a grin splitting his trident beard. “Will you two lovebirds settle down over there? The pair of you’ll bring the damn tunnel down on us with the noise you’re spitting!”
The blond giant sighed and returned to his seat, a mound of earth that barely reached his ankles.
“I’m sorry Lucan, it’s just this bloody place does my head in. You don’t have any of that wine left, do you?”
“You know very well that you finished it at least a week ago. You finished the rest of the fresh food about then too. I tell you, we better reach the surface soon or we’ll be starting on each other, and there’s only one redundant man down here with enough meat to feed a crow!”

Silence grew again; all of the worthy topics of conversation had died out long since, and reminiscent recollections of family could only sate a man’s appetite for companionship so much. Lucan’s pick continued on its slow, rhythmic beat as it pummelled the rocks ahead, its harsh thunk punctuating the thoughts of the few. With a heart wrenching crack, the pickaxe tore straight through the grey stone, and shards of blinding light shattered the shadows that haunted the tunnel.
Bran leapt to his feet and thundered towards the hole in the wall, shouting obscene curse words as he went. His hands scrabbled against the jagged rock, scoring his palms as he made every attempt to break free of what had been his prison. Marrok simply shook his head and began gathering their packs together, along with what little supplies remained for their use.
A timid pair of eyes peeked into the tunnel, attempting to desperately count the number of men waiting in the shadows. After several moments, he appeared to have reached a satisfactory conclusion, and cleared his throat.
“Uh. Friend or foe?”
Bran looked bewildered, and continued his string of curses as he tore chunks from the earth with his bare hands. The only noticeable difference in his demeanour was that he was now directing his oaths towards the young man, fresh to adulthood, as he stood lamely outside.
“Excuse me, Sir? Sir? I… I just want to know…”
“What!? What do you just want to know?” Bran roared, his head jerking up to lock eyes with the newcomer.
The boy blanched, and he broke out in a clearly visible sweat, his red face in a direct contrast to the blue tunic he wore beneath an oversized breastplate.
“Are you a friend or a foe, Sir?”
“It depends who’s asking, boy. Fetch me some good wine, and we can come to a conclusion in a sound state of mind!”
Marrok nudged past Bran, who made little effort to stop him, concentrating as he was upon staring into the eyes of the poor lad. He smiled sadly; Bran was set upon making the youth’s job as hard as possible.
“Note our tunics are the same as yours, friend. The mud might disguise us, but we have no plans to hurt you. Well, he might, but only if you continue to stand in the way of his exit.”
The boy gripped his sword hilt tightly, his knuckles going white; quite quickly he stepped out of the way of the tunnel entrance as Lucan finished opening it up, making far better work of it than Bran had. As Bran squeezed his large frame out, a rich voice barked out, and the boy stood to a quick yet clumsy attention, his helmet slipping over his eyes.
“So!? Who are they, boy!?”
A tall man strode briskly into the clearing into which they had emerged, the richly coloured purple cloak of a general billowing behind him. He glared at the young soldier, before turning his gaze to the trio who now gathered outside the maw of the tunnel entrance, Bran sprawled upon the grass. He flashed a winning smile at Marrok, and swept his hair back as he stepped in to shake his hand.
“I see you have the markings of an officer! Of the 4th company, no less! Welcome to the camp of the 17th, the finest outfit you will have ever seen!”
Marrok grimaced as he heard the name. “Yes, we’ve heard of the 17th in our camp. Such flattering tales of battlefield prowess.”
“Indeed, yes!” The general continued, clearly unable to detect even copious quantities of sarcasm, “Undoubtedly they will have featured me as a preeminent character, contingent as I am to all of the manoeuvres that my good company is involved in!”
Bran smirked at the general’s reply. “Well, if you are who I think you are, then you definitely are featured in them; mighty fine tales they are too! You’ve earnt a name for yourself, you have!”
“You may be surprised to discover that it is not simply a singular name I have acquired, not in the slightest! My men a greatly enamoured with me, I have heard! Rather than referring to me a Earl Shadlington as their positions might otherwise dictate, the men have taken to calling me names that refer to my evident prowess, phrases such as ‘Sadlington’, due to the deduction in morale I cause my enemies; ‘Shaglington’, referring to my skill in the arenas of manliness—“
“’Incepshad’,” the lad interjected cheerfully, “Because he’s so far up himself that he can’t...”
The look that General Shadlington cast towards the boy might as well have been composed purely of fire, for he simply melted into the safe recesses of his breastplate. Turning away from him, Shadlington stared at the trio once again.
“You three had better come with me. I shall make a tent available for you to occupy during your stay immediately. Boy!” He glanced back at the now significantly less joyous youth. “You will enjoy a night under the stars tonight, I think. Clear out your possessions immediately, lest you wish to clear out the privies for the next 45 years!”
Marrok was taken aback by the harsh talk of the general. “Isn’t that a bit excessive for the poor boy, sir?”
Shadlington stared back at him in a perplexed manner. “Nonsense! Nothing is truly excessive here, merely well disciplined! We’re in a war, y’know! Now follow me, right this way, that damned tent better be clear by now!”
As they began to trudge across the soft mud upon the floor of the wood, Lucan drew up besides Marrok.
“Do you think they’ve mentioned his chin yet?”

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Also, the formatting is horrible compared to how it was in word. :3

 

I am a fan.
An entertaining and well-written tale, for sure :)

 

This is the exception, clearly :p

 

Cue list of responses:
Inex: What else should I make Shad? I mean, he'd make a terrible enemy, the only fun people to really mock are your own superiors. Therefore, Shad must be the General so that he might remain the chin of all the jokes (Seewhatididthere?).
Melan: I just looked up Arthurian names, and Bran was one of them. ^_^
Shadlington: Thanks! I was hoping that it would be well received. I kind of finished it late at knight, so the descriptive aspect that I enjoy writing wasn't as heavily used nearer to the end, but, myeh, I found the dialogue section fun to write.
Mr. Wizardly Fellow: Yup, there's going to be a fair bit more, and when I finish I'll likely chunk it all together, and make a new thread with the full story. Or edit all the new sections into the opening post. Then again, I kind of plan a large number of sections. Hell, they'll be at least four before I've even finished properly introducing the characters!
SAGRA13: I haven't actually read those books, but I've heard they are pretty good. I do kind of read a lot of books in my spare time, particularly old school fantasy books. Recently, I've been reading through Catch 22 whilst on the bus, which will be followed by the rest of the Sherlock Holmes novels. Other than that, I most enjoy reading books by David Gemmel, Terry Pratchett and I have a soft spot in modern fiction for Frederick Forsyth.

I'll try to maintain a rough post rate of 1 section of the story a week. More members from the community will likely be included, but please don't ask explicitly to be in it. I'm making the attempt to create some memorable characters, so when I do introduce additional community members into the storyline, they will be those who have a personality which I have noticed. I ask people if they would mind being included, and not the other way around.

 

You have excellent taste. Catch 22 in particular is one of my favourite ever books :)

 

It really is amazing! I properly started it yesterday, and I'm about halfway through. Expect allusions to it.... :3

Bactra, each bit will arrive when it arrives!


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Yeah, me being the expert procrastinator I am, I haven't updated this in quite a while. In 3 months in fact (today is 2/5/2012). I will try and add some more, but no promises are being made. I've procrastinated from this so far by doing what I'm actually meant to be doing, and trying not to fail my A-levels. Happy?



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30/09/2012 - Still not much more. I'm considering the next installment though, a little more time and love may be forthcoming.



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08/10/2014 - Nope.