Title: DB fic (title pending)
Ryshah - August 18, 2005 06:45 PM (GMT)
I couldn't get this to leave me alone until i got it down. Would you guys please tell me what you think so far?
Artha Penn, a.k.a the Dragon Booster fed Beau from one of the many dragon feeding stations around Dragon City. Kitt Wann was with him, taking the opportunity to feed her own dragon, Wyldfyr.
"So, stableboy, what your plan for tomorrow's race?"
Artha's face turned a delightful shade of red, and Beau snickered.
"Ah, well, I was thinking of level 3 white aero gear for the jump, level 4 red thruster, and level 2 green bashing in case Moordryd tries something."
Kitt grinned.
"Not bad stableboy, but you forgot the final lap is run clockwise and has ‘The Graybone Wall' on it. If I were you, I'd replace the green bashing with level 2 white rappel gear." She lifted an eyebrow as Artha stammered incoherently before pulling himself together.
"Right ... I forgot about the wall ..."
Beau rolled his eyes and lashed his tail in the air so hard there was a distinct whipping sound.
"BEAU!"
The rolling thunder of dragon paws pounding the pavement roared in Artha's ears as he activated the white aero gear a dragon-length before reaching the ten dragon-length jump.
Beau gathered his power, and leaped.
Another racer, this one riding a mis-coloured Control-class dragon, joined them in mid-air.
"Alright Beau, get ready."
Both dragons landed with bone-jarring thuds and picked up speed to reach the U-turn into the inner track first. The other racer managed to keep the pace with them.
Both Artha and Beau cast and incredulous glance at their persistent tail.
"We're not going to let her beat us! Not when the finish is only half a lap away!" He closed his eyes and opened his mind. "Release the dragon, release the dragon ..."
An air-shield blinked into existence in front of Beau, reducing all air friction to zero and allowing him to accelerate to vortex velocity at two hundred miles per hour.
Up in the stands Parmon was flipping out, hurriedly he opened his connection to Artha.
"Artha ..." he began disbelievingly. "what are you doing?! You're draining Beau's draconium energy with this little stunt!"
Artha remained in his trance until Beau decided to take the matter into his own paws and mag-blasted his rider from the saddle into the air, effectively breaking Artha's concentration.
Air-shield gone, air friction increased and Beau slowed to his normal racing speed.
"Come on Parm, haven't you been watching the race? We had to shake that runty Control-class and its rider!"
Parm snorted.
"You've only wasted your energy then. That ‘runty' dragon is still on your tail."
"What?!"
"Rrrrrm?!" Beau vocalized as he turned his head to see for himself.
Indeed the small, mis-coloured Control-class dragon was rapidly catching up and looking none too pleased at being referred to as ‘runty'.
Beau was privately surprised that Propheci had allowed her to live when she'd hatched.
The two dragons ran abreast of each other until ‘The Graybone Wall'.
‘The Graybone Wall' was the final obstacle of this race, a massive wall five dragon-lengths high with the image of a roaring Graybone dragon painted on its surface. It's purpose was to pop up from it's hiding place unexpectedly, scaring all but the most stern-hearted of dragons and testing the speed of the riders reflexes.
When it appeared, riders had to activate whatever gear they'd chosen to scale it. Otherwise both dragon and rider would plow headlong into it.
Sarah Frost - August 18, 2005 06:57 PM (GMT)
The grammar's untidy, and on screen, when you start a new paragraph you need to leave a gap in between.
"a.k.a." is colloquial, and should not be used in formal third-person narrative.
"what your plan for tomorrow's race?" This phrase is missing a verb. I know it's speech, but there is no reason why Kitt would have said "what's [what is] your plan".
Numbers lower than one hundred (or a multiple of it) are spelt out.
I was under the impression that Propheci's crew were legendary and generally kept secret. If the Control-class dragon is in fact a Prophet, why is it racing publicly? And if it isn't, why is Beau wondering why Propheci let it live?
By the way, what exactly is a 'mis-coloured' dragon (term implies something is wrong with the colouring)? I doubt that RedAndBlue!Beau is seen as deformed.
"Rrrrn"--Generally, it's a better idea to just say "X growled," "K moaned," "Z howled", rather than to attempt to spell out these vocalisations. It looks better on the printed page.
"cast and incredulous glance"--'an'.
Why is Artha morphing into the Dragon Booster in public?
The Graybone Wall sounds like an interesting idea. :)
The characters seem fairly IC, and I'd say that the plot sounds like something that could have come from an episode. More proofreading is needed, though.
Ryshah - August 18, 2005 08:26 PM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| The grammar's untidy, and on screen, when you start a new paragraph you need to leave a gap in between. |
Sad part is, this was after my Grammer check got through with it. and i'm not sure what defines a new paragraph in the bit i posted of the race. could you clarify please?
| QUOTE |
| Numbers lower than one hundred (or a multiple of it) are spelt out. |
What if the numbers are displayed as odds? ie, 'the odds are 1 in 63 of something like that happening'
| QUOTE |
| In a repeat performance of his first race, an air-shield blinked into existence in front of Beau, reducing all air friction to zero and allowing him to accelerate to vortex velocity at two hundred miles per hour. |
Is this better? Indicating that he and Beau aren't morphing, but doing what they did the first time they raced together?
| QUOTE |
I was under the impression that Propheci's crew were legendary and generally kept secret. If the Control-class dragon is in fact a Prophet, why is it racing publicly? And if it isn't, why is Beau wondering why Propheci let it live?
|
what if I added this to the beginning, to clear things up a little but not give away the whole plot.
| QUOTE |
From within the Track of Doom, Propheci gazed at the Bonemarks of Temptation thoughtfully. Beau and the Dragon Booster had proven their worth. But despite their best efforts, he could sense a war on the horizon. <Perhaps, > he mused <it is time to give the Dragon Booster his final test.> <Bring the tainted one to me. > Two Prophets left the chamber and returned not five minutes later with a dragon that came only to their shoulders. Propheci waved off the guards and circled the undersized dragon and rider. "What is your purpose?" He snapped through Reepyr's mouth. <"To guard the Bonemark and test the dragon of legend."> Dragon and rider answered in unison. "Why do you guard the Bonemark?" <"It cannot influence us."> Propheci smiled unpleasantly. "When the Bonemark is gone, what will be your fate?" Silence. "Let me remind you what your fate is. You and that human will be culled as you should have been before you took your first breaths were it not for the Bonemark attaching itself to you! Now go!" Propheci spun on one foot and used a roundhouse to send the dragon and human sailing into a pillar. Without a word both got to their feet and unsteadily made their way out of the Track of Doom for the final time. |
Or does that give too much away?
| QUOTE |
| By the way, what exactly is a 'mis-coloured' dragon (term implies something is wrong with the colouring)? I doubt that RedAndBlue!Beau is seen as deformed. |
I was trying to imply that as a control-class she's not orange, blue and red, and seen as deformed by the Prophets for both that and her small size. I tried to make that clear in the part above.
btw, I'd like to say thanks for pointing this stuff out. and i'd like to say say thanks in advance for any annoying questions i might pepper you with grammer wise (i never was very good at it)
Sarah Frost - August 19, 2005 04:14 AM (GMT)
A new paragraph is either a new speaker or a new subject.
Starting a new paragraph involves pressing the Enter key twice. It is the rule when work is published onscreen as it makes it much easier to read.
"How are you?" no-one asked.
"I am fine," anyone replied.
Good question about the odds. :) In the case of a sign reading "Shinyia: Fyrflyght: 1 in 63" a direct quote would suffice, but I'd still go for spelling out unless it's a larger number, eg. "one-in-three odds".
Okay, fair enough that Propheci sent an agent in, and it's great that you do have a plot planned. :) However, there are two possibilities regarding orange-coloured dragons: one, they are all Prophets and if out in public would cause a sensation as they are generally believed not to exist, two, orange-coloured or orange-influenced dragons are around on the streets (Phorrj and a lot of red dragons have orange on them, after all), and are not necessarily Prophets. If the former, then Propheci probably wouldn't risk exposure, and if the latter, Beau wouldn't assume that it was a Prophet.
Aside from that, it's great you're willing to listen to suggestions.
Oh, and "grammar" has no "e". ;)