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Pretzel
25-11-04, 09:49 AM
This is my first story. Please give me your thoughts.
Al the Adventurer

Chapter One.

First there was nothing. Then there was some stuff. Then, a while after that stuff, there was Al. He was a baby. As Al grew, his parents noticed that he had IMMENSE strength, so they sent him to a bard. The bard was a crazy old man, and he taught Al to be crazy too. Soon after Al turned 7, the bard died. Al was devastated, and went back to the kingdom of his parents. His parents, who had once been the king and queen of their land, had been overthrown, by the evil overlord, Mortimer. Mortimer had changed the once lush, green, valley city, into an industrial wasteland, filled with dark magic. The former bubbling streams, which had contained fish of every shape, size, and color, were now rotten tar pits, which moved as slow as molasses . The dumps could not even have a CHANCE at harboring life. The once green fields, in which deer and rabbits had frolicked freely, had been changed into Giant industrial plants, which belched smoke into the once clean air, turning it into a dark fog.

Al grew very angry. He remembered playing in his parent’s gardens as a boy of three, and how he had loved to look at the clouds with his caretaker. He remembered how every cloud looked like a rabbit or a fire truck. Now, as he stared out the window of his parent’s one room cabin in the slums, every one of the black clouds looked like an oil stain. Al swore he would get his revenge on Lord Mortimer. Al grew stronger and stronger each day. By the time he was eight he could pick up a horse. When he was nine, he could pick up his house. By the time he was ten, he was ready to seek revenge. Al told his parents that he was leaving, and that they couldn’t stop him. They believed him, and let him go.

As Al walked out of his house with nothing but a few coins in his pocket and the clothes on his back, he realized he would need a weapon. Al went into the forest, and found a hard, straight stick that was about 5 feet long. He found a vine hanging from a nearby tree, and fastened it to his stick to make himself a bow and arrow. Then, he went to search for smaller sticks, and rocks to make the arrows. Once Al had collected nearly 40 straight sticks, and 40 rocks, he came to a small clearing. He looked up, and saw the sun descending over the mountain ridge. Al found a large piece of dry bark, took one of his sticks, and ground the stick into the bark. When he saw a sparks, he threw dried leaves into his fire. Soon he had a fire licking upwards, piercing the darkness. He set to work sharpening the stones to make arrowheads. Once he had some arrowheads, he set out to find food. He found a deer, alone and asleep. As Al crept towards the deer, the deer looked at him, just for a second, then ran. Al grabbed one of his arrows, and lobbed it after the deer. The arrow struck the deer in the rear, just above the thigh, and the deer fell. Al raced after the deer, and removed the arrow, and found the deer dead. He dragged the animal back to his camp, and with one of his sharpened rocks, he skinned it. He roasted the dear over the fire. Then he took the dears hide, and made a pack for his arrows.

The next morning Al awoke to the sounds of birds chirping, beavers eating trees, and the bubbling of a small creak. Al went to the creek, and got some water. Then he returned to the camp, and finished the rest of the deer for breakfast. He gathered up his breakfast, and continued his trek to find Mortimer’s castle. He climbed a nearby tree, and as he looked around, he saw the dark towers of a castle. Al jumped down from the tree, and as he grew closer, he heard some voices talking. Al peered around a tree trunk, and saw a large glowing rock. He did not see, however, anything that could be making the voices. As Al walked towards the rock, he felt something snag his ankle. Suddenly, Al felt himself jerked violently into the air. He was hanging, upside down, nearly ten feet up. “What a great way to start my quest.” said Al aloud.

Bullroarer
25-11-04, 01:33 PM
Your fanfic has a nice introduction to the beginning of a good comedy.

Pretzel
25-11-04, 04:31 PM
Yay. I have please the great bullroar *Pats himself on the back and gives himself a cookie" Thanks. More tomorrow. I havent quite decided whats next.

Inquisistor7
25-11-04, 06:06 PM
Not bad. I didn't notice any major grammatical errors, and the premise of the story seems solid. Some sentences seem rather hastily done, while others are quite good. Also, for future reference, try to keep the pacing steady. Again, though, not bad.

Flak
25-11-04, 09:01 PM
Indeed, few grammatical mistakes, and likewise a few spelling mistakes. For a first story, it's possibly one of the best I've seen on these forums. Watch your basics, and make your story flow well, and you have yourself a customer! :y-wink2:

Pretzel
25-11-04, 10:02 PM
There's some dialouges in this one, and more action. Thanks for the feedback.

Chapter 2

Al heard some voices, and craned his neck upwards to see where they were coming from. As he looked, he saw two women dressed in tunics laughing as they came towards him.

“Who are you?” Demanded Al

“I would say you’re not in much of a position for asking questions,” giggled the younger woman, who was about seventeen.

“I think the more appropriate question here is: who are YOU?” asked the older woman.

“I’m Albert Eaglehorn,” replied Al, “and I am a capable warrior. I came to these woods in order to get revenge on Lord Mortimer. He took control of the valley from my parents. I seek revenge.”

“Well Al,” said the younger woman, stifling another fit of giggles, “You’re not very capable, if you got caught in one of our bear traps”

“Would you like some help down?” said the older woman, as she pulled a knife from the rope cinched around her waist.

“Yes please,” mumbled Al, embarrassed.

The woman scrambled up the tree, and cut the rope. Al fell flat on his face, sending the younger girl into another round of wild laughter. Al stood up and brushed himself off as much as he could, but he couldn’t remove the embarrassed look from his face. Al looked at the younger girl, who’s hood had fallen from her face as she laughed, and noticed that she was very attractive. She had milky brown hair, that fell halfway down her back, rosy red cheeks, and her blue eyes took in everything around her.

“Now that I’m down, and that you know who I am, will you tell me who you are?” Al asked.

“I am Gwendilis, and this is my trainee, Rosalyn.” The older woman answered.

“We come from a nearby camp of rebels. Like you, we seek to remove the reigns of power from Mortimer, and return the land to how it once was. Would you like to come with us? It’s nearing time for the midday meal. You look like you could use some food.”

“Thank you,” said Al, trying to sound gracious, but he couldn’t hide his enthusiasm. He was starving. He also wanted to see who these people were, and to spend more time with Rosalyn. He didn’t know her, but the energy that seemed to flow from her intrigued him.

As the three neared the camp, they heard shouts coming from it. “RAID, RAID,” the voices shouted. “We’re being raided! Clear out, and get some weapons.” Above the racket of the scrambling outcasts, Al heard the sound of hoofs trampling dry leaves and hard packed dirt. He turned around just in time to see Rosalyn follow Gwendilis up a tree. He darted into a bush, and grabbed his bow and arrow. He prepared to let an arrow fly at the lead horsemen, but just before he released it, he saw a ruffling above, in the canopy of trees. Rosalyn fell from the tree onto the horsemen, and knocked him off, sending him tumbling to the ground in front of Al’s bush. Al watched as more rebels, dressed like Rosalyn and Gwendilis followed suit. Soon, every horse was ridden by a tunicked figure, and every knight was on the ground. Al let arrow after arrow fly, as knights began to get up, and reach for their weapons. The rebels leaped from their steeds, as the horses ran in a frenzy away from the battle. The five remaining knights were easily outnumbered by the rebels, and they ran for their lives, back to the safety of Lord Mortimer’s castle.

“What happened?” Al asked Rosalyn as he collected his arrows. “What was that?”

“Raid,” said Rosalyn, “Their pretty common around here, so we keep having to abandon our camps.” She began to jog back to were the rest of the rebels were cleaning up. The men and women stacked the dead men, collected up the weapons, and burned the bodies. “Do you want to come with us?” Asked Rosalyn? It’s the trainee’s job to round up horses. They’ve had a pretty good scare this time. It could take a while.

“I’d like that,” said Al.

Inquisistor7
26-11-04, 04:36 AM
Solid. By the way, near the end you use "their" when you should've used "they're" but that is a common error. Anyway, descriptions were good except that the area itself was not fleshed out.

Flak
26-11-04, 04:47 AM
Who are you?” Demanded Al


Correct:
Who are you?” demanded Al.


As Inq said, solid. But there are mistakes. Spell check, and if you're using MS Word (I hope you're not) grammar check. Once you've done those, go through and hand proofread. Well, 'till next chapter.

Pretzel
26-11-04, 07:08 AM
ok. thanks for the pointers. I will use spell check. but whats wrong with microsoft word?

Flak
26-11-04, 04:07 PM
The first word in the name of the application is what.

Bullroarer
29-11-04, 12:24 PM
Another thing Pretzel, to make a good comedy you need to do things a bit subtlety. If it is open insanity, your just bugging the reader out, do ya hear me playa, holla, holla, holla.