The Intergalactic Highway

hehe, these are pretty entertaining! I needed that after a long day at school.

Hmm, that's a good point about Depth Charge's proposed topic. I might do it anyway if I can't think of another topic for him. He doesn't like any of my silly ideas, but personally I'd like to hear him explain how jello works.

Okay, so I've got my third character short done just today. It's not Sunday yet, so it counts for this week! xD As a note, Donovan and Sterling are my own characters from my planned novel.

Character Short #3: Donovan on the pretty-boy vampire fad

“I don’t understand this,” I said, and showed Sterling the magazine article I was reading.

The old man glanced at it. “I don’t understand why you’re looking at a teen magazine.”

What else was I supposed to do while we waited? He missed the point like usual. This was for his benefit anyway. I reckon he hasn’t had a haircut since World War II.

“Vampires don’t sparkle.” I said. I ought to know.

“Vampires don’t go outside without bursting into flames, either.”

I ignored him. “And vampires don’t care about affairs with mortal women.”

“Says the guy courting a mortal woman with a five-year-old.”

The salon receptionist up front gave us an odd look. I leaned over. “We can just as easily do this at the dog groomers,” I said.

“Not unless you want to find presents in every pair of shoes you own.”

I straightened up. Maybe this wasn’t the best thing to do so close to the full moon. I returned to the magazine article. “It’s unrealistic. I guarantee you put a real vampire in front of a teenager, she’d never know he was one. If she did, she’d run in the other direction.”

“Understandably.”

“Oh, like a werewolf is any more charming.”

“Some women like dogs.”

“You shed and wreck the wallpaper.”

“The former is unavoidable.” He turned his grey eyes on me. They had a tint of yellow. “I can arrange the latter.”

One thing I looked forward to after this haircut of his: He’d lose that wild presence he had all the time. Hopefully.

“Read this.” I gave him the magazine. “They’re giving the rest of us a bad name. We won’t be taken seriously again for at least several decades. It might make finding prey easier, but where’s the fun in it if they’re already willing?”

He pushed it away. “I wouldn’t know.”

“Did you even read it?”

“I care not to.”

Wait. “Can you read it?”

His shoulders tensed. “I recognize enough to get by.”

“And how old are you?”

An attractive woman approached us. Sterling pulled the leather binding out of his hair and tossed his head to free up the grey and white ponytail. He’s seen too many Fabio commercials.

“Sterling? I’m Tina. Let’s get you ready.”

“Yes ma’am.” He followed her.

“What were you thinking of doing today?”

“My companion thinks I’m in need of looking more civilized.”

“He needs a shave, too,” I said. I watched his trench coat billow out as he moved forward. My next challenge: To revise his wardrobe.

---

This is the first time I've written anything with these two. It's in a different format because I'm not 100% familiar with these people yet, and the only time I hear Donovan is when he's talking to Sterling. In case anyone's confused, Sterling has three forms: human, werewolf, and dog. It's.... complicated. Hence the "find presents in your shoes" line. Also, Donovan is supposed to be Cajun (he told me so himself) but I'm still learning what that means as far as dialogue and mannerisms. If anyone knows about that, please feel free to offer critical advice.

Do these characters sound distinct from each other? As readers are you interested in what's going on with these two? I'm curious.

Hmm... Well, because my next character short is long, I'll post again instead of adding to the last one.

Sterling wanted his talk since Donovan spoke last week. I haven't written anything for him before. It took some doing to get him to start saying something, then I had to hurry to keep up with him. I stopped him at 504 words. For some reason he decided to have his narration in present tense. Coupled with his different narration style (different from my usual) this was interesting to follow.

Character Short #4: Sterling Dunstan explains “fetch”

Throughout my life I have been condemned, ridiculed, and shamed for being what I am. And I have had the… fortune… to live much longer than a human is naturally capable of.

This is different.

“Here, Scruffy!” Marianna waves the tennis ball in my face. She throws it as hard as she can. This amounts to a distance of about ten paces. She smiles at me and points. “Go get it!”

A few weeks ago I was a vagabond who had not much more than the clothes I wore and a knapsack of items I’ve collected for the last four hundred years. Do not pity me. It was my choice to live in such a manner. I cannot live another way. My curse will not allow it.

A curse tied to the full moon.

A curse I asked for, long ago, from Mephistopheles himself.

A curse I do not always regret.

But… this is different.

Marianna huffs with a five-year-old’s display of exasperation. She turns to the creature sitting on the park bench near us. “Mr. Kane, Scruffy’s not listening.”

He smiles, the smug boy— he thinks he is a grown man, but I disagree— and sets aside his newspaper. I cannot understand why no one else notices his pointed teeth.

“Please, call me Donovan, Maria. Perhaps you need to explain it to him again.”

“I did already!”

“Explain slowly.” He is enjoying this all too much.

This is different from all things before because I… I am Marianna’s dog, able to transform from a ‘gift’ given by Archangel Gabriel, for the purpose of guarding this child from Hell itself.

Me! A feared werewolf!

“Scruffy, are you listening?”

I lift my ears. My tail wags by itself. It is bothersome when I think about it.

“I throw the ball. You go get it.” She grabs my collar and pulls. I allow her to lead me to the ball. She would not be able to move me otherwise. She touches the prickly green thing to my nose. Its smell is wretched. The taste is made of dirt, grass, and carpet fuzz. I do not appreciate the thing in my mouth.

“You pick it up in your mouth. Say “ah!””

I whine, clench my teeth shut, and sit.

“Please, Scruffy?”

Child, you do not know---

It is shoved into my mouth. My ears lay flat.

“Good boy! Now give!”

Immediately I do so. She can have it for all eternity.

“Okay, now go fetch!” She throws it another ten paces.

I do not know why, but I get off my haunches and halfheartedly pursue the ball. I paw at it, hesitant. I wish I had thumbs. A growl resonates in my chest. I chomp the ball and bring it back quickly. I drop it at her feet.

“Good boy Scruffy!” Marianna gets on her knees and embraces my neck. I tense only because I am bigger than her.

“Very good boy!” She ruffles the fur on my head and kisses my muzzle.

...So this is fetch.

---

What do you guys think? I don't know what to make of this yet.

At long last, a certain someone gets his turn to speak, yess....

Character Short #5: BW Megatron contemplates the past

An excerpt from Megatron’s personal journal, entry No. 572 AF (after Earthfall)

Truly I am surrounded by idiots. I look forward to the time when I will rely solely on drones to carry out my orders. At least drones can maintain a consistent level of competence!

Tarantulas had the nerve to appear remorseful earlier today as he made his report with Blackarachnia and Quickstrike. That spider has not been sorry for a single moment in his treacherous life. No doubt he’s sabotaged the energon cave himself for personal use of a new lair. Note: Investigate suspicions later.

This war has become one debacle after another. While Optimus Primal and his Maximals have proven to be worthy opponents, the ineptitude of my own troops is nothing short of frustrating. The only adept, useful soldier I have is the one who wishes to murder me in my sleep and makes no secret about it. Ah, although it is a shame it has worked out that way, I am hardly going to complain. One intelligent soldier is one more than I currently have. Rampage makes things interesting for me at the very least, yes…

Have I done the right thing? The question still lingers on the edges of my mind when I am not preoccupied with other matters. It is in need of answering once and for all. Perhaps a better question to ask first is, would I have been able to live under Maximal rule and the conditions of the Pax Cybertronia? No. I might have been able to stomach it if the Maximals had not insisted on treating Predacons like the scum of the universe. The Autobots are just as guilty of the destruction caused by the Great War as the Decepticons are, but because the Autobots fought under the ideals of freedom and justice, they are the morally correct ones. What about freedom and justice for Predacons, who have the right to live without bias caused by association with our descendants, the Decepticons?

Of course, it is in our very programming to fight, command, and rule. My mentor helped me see this. I became one of the best field generals the Predacons had. And then came the treaty, and I was supposed to give up my very way of existence, and live under the farce of peace? No. Not when Cybertron is rightfully ours.

So yes. I have done the correct thing. My actions have led me here, to this planet, where I am faced with a decision. In order to win this war, am I willing to rewrite the very fabric of history itself?

The answer requires a great deal of thought. But the more I think on it, the more I see my deserved godhood. The answer…. Might also be yes.

---

I had to stop him at 450 words. Megatron is SO long-winded, and has a better vocabulary than I do. There are some words in here that I didn't really know the meaning of, I just knew they belonged in context until I looked up their definitions. How weird is that??

There is some sort of inner parallel going on here. I want to say he's being a hypocrite, but I'm not sure that's it. The obvious ego is at work, though. What do you guys think?

I'll post this on DA tomorrow, when I'm not sitting outside in the cold cuz the library is closed. It's too bad there was a word limit on this because he was going through some really interesting thought processes. This piece is missing some parts of his train of thought that I had to delete. Hopefully it's not noticeable where. But I really enjoyed writing this anyway.