He brought the first of the long bones up onto the bench, pulling on the blueprint knowledge he’d gained from the spear he’d made—javelins had been well included under its umbrella, so he had a pretty good mental template to work with. He began by rounding out the shaft, carefully shaving it down until it was an actual pole instead of a kind of oblong misshapen cylinder. He left the last foot and a half alone, the lump of calcification at the end making it look like some kind of magical staff. He tried to leave as much material on the pole as he could because the Voithos had bigger hands than he did, so the thicker it was, the easier it would be for them to use it. By the time he started work on the blade, he was left wishing the bone had been about two feet longer. Hopefully, they could actually get something bigger to work with tomorrow. He kept the blade in the rough shape that Boko had asked for, a triangular blade that started wide at the pole and then tapered down to a sharp point.
Javelin Blueprint Unlocked
August ignored it because it didn’t really bring much else of note with it—there was a more clear schematic of the spear-throwing tool he’d already had a vague understanding about, but it probably wasn’t something the Voithos needed considering their ridiculous strength. He smoothed out the faces of the blade and kept working on the edge until it was about as sharp as he could make it—then he did it all over again for the next two. His mana had run out by the end of it, his continued use fighting against the increased regeneration. The brightness of the light was also starting to make him squint again, the unnaturalness of it getting to him a bit.
Once all three of them were finished, he was well and truly sick of standing in the blinding light, so he worked his way free of it, shading his face with one hand. The fire was pretty much dead now, and the Voithos had vanished into the huts to chase a night of rest before their adventure. August climbed back up the ladder and unhooked the light system before shutting it off. He placed it on the workbench in case they needed it again during the night and eyed the flickering patchwork of faded red embers of the fire. He didn’t bother returning to his bamboo [Lean-To]; with the ceiling and walls of the half-completed undercover area surrounding him on two sides, it felt silly to bother with it. Instead, he just laid down beside the dying fire and then folded his arms behind his head.
The three massive moons hung above him, partially obscured by the ceiling, and he wondered at how quickly he’d grown used to seeing them. It had been less than two weeks since he’d arrived here, and the alien sky was already fading into the background. It felt kind of wrong to just accept that it was slowly becoming his sky, but it wasn’t like he could do anything about it—there was a sound of tapping against wood out in the darkness, in the direction of the huts that might have been the hanging shade shifting around. Ladybug let out a trill from her place planted squarely between the undercover area and the huts. He picked up the sound of movement on the grass a moment later; one of them was still awake.
Haiko’s render burst into existence as she crossed into his range, and he caught sight of her shadow in the dim light of the dead fire—he’d been right, and the trouble had found him.
“Haiko,” August said, cracking an eye open. “Can’t sleep?”
Haiko crossed all the way to the fire, humming at his question before she actually moved to address it.
“I had so much fun tonight that I decided to hold another vote; this one was to decide whether I should even attempt to sleep or not,” Haiko said, drumming the fingers of her bottom left hand against her thigh. “But everyone else had already fallen asleep, so it was a remarkably one-sided process—August, do you mind if I join you?”
It didn’t matter that it was almost pitch black because her render was perfectly visible in his mind—and she was very obviously smiling. The words made him recall that he’d already told her once today that she could come to speak to him whenever she pleased and that she didn’t need to ask first—it was a clear point of attack for him.
“We literally talked about this a couple of hours ago; why are you asking for permission?” August said, enjoying having some ammunition against her for once. “Maybe we finally found a title for you—how does Haiko the Forgetful sound?”
Haiko reached up and tapped a finger against her lip. That might have been his proof that it was an unconscious gesture—or she could be doing it because she knew he could still see her, so maybe not.
“I’m afraid that my mind has been rather occupied with trying to solve a mystery,” Haiko said, taking a single, sudden, step around the fire. “You see, earlier on tonight, I had thought—and I am very astute and not at all forgetful, so these things are usually quite clear to me—that you were very much enjoying yourself.”
Haiko continued to move as she spoke, taking a second step, a third, and then a fourth, at which point, she was left standing over him in the space between his hip and the fire. All of a sudden, his ammunition seemed like it wasn’t anywhere near the kind of calibre he needed for a battle like this.
“Then, as if driven away by some terrifying force, you fled into the night with your tail tucked between your legs,” Haiko said as she slipped down to lay on her side between him and the remnants of the fire. “A curious mind like mine couldn’t possibly let such a thing go unanswered—what could have shaken you so badly?”
Haiko, with her cheek resting against one of her many palms, turned further towards him, and the size difference between them left her hovering over the entire left side of his body, and she was clearly expecting some kind of response.
“You are a terrifying force,” August tried, “So I feel like I’m totally justified in running away when you’ve got the upper hand.”
Haiko actually laughed at his honesty, but before he could continue, she leaned further down, slipping one of her arms beneath his head, curled it underneath his neck until her fingers came to rest against his collarbone—a second hand slipped up to link together with the first, trapping him there, and her index finger tapped faintly against the skin of his throat.
“It would appear that I have the upper hand once again—but you are not running away this time,” Haiko said, and it didn’t sound even remotely like a question. “How wonderful.”
This is a fade-to-black scene, one of the very few that breaks the unbroken perspective of the first draft of contention other than for day changes, there is no scene written for what occurs.
The completed revised version of contention book one is now sitting up on my Patreon in the 1$ tier until I'm finished with Book 2 and get around to the last formatting changes for the eBook. I'd appreciate any feedback I can get on the new system/revision if anyone wants to pay the gatekeeping fee to check it out.
Contention: Revised Edition - Book One.
Seeking Direction: Revised Edition is now live; It's a revised RWBY fanfiction following an OC with Direction Manipulation as his Semblance.
Please remember to leave a rating and a review, it helps a lot with visibility!
If you like my writing and want to see more of it, you can find links to my original books on Elbowsnapper.com
If you want to show some support, get early access, or see my first drafts, go check out my Patreon
Love you guys, keep on keeping on!
Recent Releases:
Ameliorate: Intersect
Reroll: Falling & Shatter
Systematic Soul Sorting: Book 1 & Audiobook. Book 2(First Draft)
Seeker's Precept: The Dragon's Marble
He brought the first of the long bones up onto the bench, pulling on the blueprint knowledge he’d gained from the spear he’d made—javelins had been well included under its umbrella, so he had a pretty good mental template to work with. He began by rounding out the shaft, carefully shaving it down until it was an actual pole instead of a kind of oblong misshapen cylinder. He left the last foot and a half alone, the lump of calcification at the end making it look like some kind of magical staff. He tried to leave as much material on the pole as he could because the Voithos had bigger hands than he did, so the thicker it was, the easier it would be for them to use it. By the time he started work on the blade, he was left wishing the bone had been about two feet longer. Hopefully, they could actually get something bigger to work with tomorrow. He kept the blade in the rough shape that Boko had asked for, a triangular blade that started wide at the pole and then tapered down to a sharp point.
Javelin Blueprint Unlocked
August ignored it because it didn’t really bring much else of note with it—there was a more clear schematic of the spear-throwing tool he’d already had a vague understanding about, but it probably wasn’t something the Voithos needed considering their ridiculous strength. He smoothed out the faces of the blade and kept working on the edge until it was about as sharp as he could make it—then he did it all over again for the next two. His mana had run out by the end of it, his continued use fighting against the increased regeneration. The brightness of the light was also starting to make him squint again, the unnaturalness of it getting to him a bit.
Once all three of them were finished, he was well and truly sick of standing in the blinding light, so he worked his way free of it, shading his face with one hand. The fire was pretty much dead now, and the Voithos had vanished into the huts to chase a night of rest before their adventure. August climbed back up the ladder and unhooked the light system before shutting it off. He placed it on the workbench in case they needed it again during the night and eyed the flickering patchwork of faded red embers of the fire. He didn’t bother returning to his bamboo [Lean-To]; with the ceiling and walls of the half-completed undercover area surrounding him on two sides, it felt silly to bother with it. Instead, he just laid down beside the dying fire and then folded his arms behind his head.
The three massive moons hung above him, partially obscured by the ceiling, and he wondered at how quickly he’d grown used to seeing them. It had been less than two weeks since he’d arrived here, and the alien sky was already fading into the background. It felt kind of wrong to just accept that it was slowly becoming his sky, but it wasn’t like he could do anything about it—there was a sound of tapping against wood out in the darkness, in the direction of the huts that might have been the hanging shade shifting around. Ladybug let out a trill from her place planted squarely between the undercover area and the huts. He picked up the sound of movement on the grass a moment later; one of them was still awake.
Haiko’s render burst into existence as she crossed into his range, and he caught sight of her shadow in the dim light of the dead fire—he’d been right, and the trouble had found him.
“Haiko,” August said, cracking an eye open. “Can’t sleep?”
Haiko crossed all the way to the fire, humming at his question before she actually moved to address it.
“I had so much fun tonight that I decided to hold another vote; this one was to decide whether I should even attempt to sleep or not,” Haiko said, drumming the fingers of her bottom left hand against her thigh. “But everyone else had already fallen asleep, so it was a remarkably one-sided process—August, do you mind if I join you?”
It didn’t matter that it was almost pitch black because her render was perfectly visible in his mind—and she was very obviously smiling. The words made him recall that he’d already told her once today that she could come to speak to him whenever she pleased and that she didn’t need to ask first—it was a clear point of attack for him.
“We literally talked about this a couple of hours ago; why are you asking for permission?” August said, enjoying having some ammunition against her for once. “Maybe we finally found a title for you—how does Haiko the Forgetful sound?”
Haiko reached up and tapped a finger against her lip. That might have been his proof that it was an unconscious gesture—or she could be doing it because she knew he could still see her, so maybe not.
“I’m afraid that my mind has been rather occupied with trying to solve a mystery,” Haiko said, taking a single, sudden, step around the fire. “You see, earlier on tonight, I had thought—and I am very astute and not at all forgetful, so these things are usually quite clear to me—that you were very much enjoying yourself.”
Haiko continued to move as she spoke, taking a second step, a third, and then a fourth, at which point, she was left standing over him in the space between his hip and the fire. All of a sudden, his ammunition seemed like it wasn’t anywhere near the kind of calibre he needed for a battle like this.
“Then, as if driven away by some terrifying force, you fled into the night with your tail tucked between your legs,” Haiko said as she slipped down to lay on her side between him and the remnants of the fire. “A curious mind like mine couldn’t possibly let such a thing go unanswered—what could have shaken you so badly?”
Haiko, with her cheek resting against one of her many palms, turned further towards him, and the size difference between them left her hovering over the entire left side of his body, and she was clearly expecting some kind of response.
“You are a terrifying force,” August tried, “So I feel like I’m totally justified in running away when you’ve got the upper hand.”
Haiko actually laughed at his honesty, but before he could continue, she leaned further down, slipping one of her arms beneath his head, curled it underneath his neck until her fingers came to rest against his collarbone—a second hand slipped up to link together with the first, trapping him there, and her index finger tapped faintly against the skin of his throat.
“It would appear that I have the upper hand once again—but you are not running away this time,” Haiko said, and it didn’t sound even remotely like a question. “How wonderful.”
This is a fade-to-black scene, one of the very few that breaks the unbroken perspective of the first draft of contention other than for day changes, there is no scene written for what occurs.
The completed revised version of contention book one is now sitting up on my Patreon in the 1$ tier until I'm finished with Book 2 and get around to the last formatting changes for the eBook. I'd appreciate any feedback I can get on the new system/revision if anyone wants to pay the gatekeeping fee to check it out.
Contention: Revised Edition - Book One.
Seeking Direction: Revised Edition is now live; It's a revised RWBY fanfiction following an OC with Direction Manipulation as his Semblance.
Please remember to leave a rating and a review, it helps a lot with visibility!
If you like my writing and want to see more of it, you can find links to my original books on Elbowsnapper.com
If you want to show some support, get early access, or see my first drafts, go check out my Patreon
Love you guys, keep on keeping on!
Recent Releases:
Ameliorate: Intersect
Reroll: Falling & Shatter
Systematic Soul Sorting: Book 1 & Audiobook. Book 2(First Draft)
Seeker's Precept: The Dragon's Marble
