[=10]An entry to keep all things related to 'no quarter' in one place. I'd really like feedback on this; it's the first time I've managed to keep interest in a multi-part story and really try with it. I know it doesn't seem TEF-related right now but it is, and I'm getting so little feedback on it that its rather discouraging. I'm glad that there are people reading it and I'm glad I get any comments at all, but like everyone else I'd like more. Is it interesting? Does it pull you in? What do you feel towards each character? What do you feel might happen? Do you have any suggestions of your own? Seriously - I'd love to know what you all think.

[=10]
Days passed, and became weeks. The weeks became months, and passed the languid drawl of summer, and the cooling serenity of autumn. Soon, time plunged into the callous chill of winter.

The woods were alerted to her presence very quickly; she was making far too much noise to remain unnoticed. Birds flew to the safety of the trees, the rush of their wings barely audible; drowned by the terrible sounds that the staggering woman was making.

In her arms, she cradled a motionless bundle. In her throat, she held a terrible wail, and let it burst forth again as she slumped forwards against a familiar, leafless tree. The woman's shoulders trembled violently, face soaked with tears as a hand knocked weakly against the bark.

"My baby, my baby, I--please, the keeper--my little boy..."

She had never wanted a son, but gender did not matter now. 'Ven', as she was called, crushed her forehead against the tree's wood, still weeping and crying, clutching the bundle in her arms.

"Please, please, please, anything--bring him back, bring--please, keeper, please..."

Nothing. She gave a tortured wail, high-pitched and atonal, scraping against her own eardrums.

"Please! I'll do anything, anything, please! I want my son, I need him! PLEASE!"

And then, just as she was about to give in - a response.

'The keeper wishes to inform you that Death comes to us all.'

She had heard that before. The woman shook her head with a broken, shattered moan, eyes clenched shut though the tears still freed themselves from behind the lids, and ran openly down her thin, ill face.

"Please--please, keeper, I beg you--I'm dying, I can't take him with me, please--please--"

'The keeper is inclined to believe that the child was never destined to live.'

"Everyone is destined to live!" She raised her head, one hand clawing at the ground, whilst the other kept her lifeless child tucked safely against her chest.

[=10]
It was the hardest moment of his life, watching her leave. More difficult to accept than when he realised he was bound to a single tiny building for the rest of his life. More crushing than her refusal to marry him. More frightening than the notion of having a child.

A soft, broken groan slid from the man's mouth, hands gripping at carrot-coloured hair, fingers curled around the greasy strands. They tried to slide from his grasp; he held them still tighter. He gave a shudder and sucked in a breath, trying so very hard to think.

His once-love was a woman of her word, and this tension had been building for a long time now. It had only been a matter of waiting for it, the last straw to break the camel's back, the one thing that would finally make her go. Love, if she even felt it for him, if she ever really had, would not bring her back.

Crippling, to think that the woman carrying his first and now only child, might never have loved him in the first place. But she had been good, once. She had been...someone. But since she'd bound him to that place, she'd changed. Become someone else. Guilt? No. Never. She didn't feel it. What drove her was determination; power; the knowledge that she could do as she wished.

And she would not let her failed, trapped, weak 'lover' stop her from becoming what she wished to become. He knew that. He'd known that from the start, and not once had he tried to get in her way. Perhaps he'd been afraid. Did that make him a coward?

Ven was no average woman. She was cruel; she was distant; she was twisted and she was no-one else's, owned by none but herself. And he, silly and naive, had thought that she could love him. He'd sacrificed everything he had to bring her to their new home, to support them. And she repayed him by binding him to one building for eternity, and leaving him childless.

Auburn eyes watched the long blade in his hand. It was not a sword, nor a dagger; nothing so meaningful as that.

warning : swearing, ranting

[=10]

The streets were void of life save for the odd bat that tore silently past. Blinds and curtains were closed. Doors were locked, cars were parked. The world was still.

"He'll rot there."

A quiet, sharp laugh rang from her throat, ashen hair trembling as she shook her head. Talking to herself - how silly of her. But no matter.

"I'll keep you safe."

She patted her stomach, looking down at it for several seconds, stopping in the middle of the street to do so. Slowly, a wry smile flickered onto her sharp features.

"You're almost a curse."

Her shoes clicked again as she walked, eyes straight ahead of her.

"It's not your fault. We made you, after all."

The woman fell silent, and for a long time, she kept going. Eventually, there were no streets - only tree and grass and moss. She looked around, and to her left, a tree caught her eye.

It was not a remarkable tree. There was nothing striking about it at all - it was just a tree, green-leafed and full, brown like the rest of the trees, no marks on it, no scratches, no indents. By all means it should not have caught her eye at all under ordinary circumstances.

But these were not ordinary circumstances.

A slender hand tapped on the tree's thick trunk, and, leaning in close, her full lips parted and a quiet voice came from between. "Young tree, is anybody home?" She crooned at it, sing-song, eyelashes clasped together as she rested the side of her face against the rough bark.

'The keeper does not wish to see you.'

"Oh but it's important, young tree, I promise you." Her voice had lowered to a whisper.

'The keeper does not wish to see you.'

"Would he wish to see me upon gaining the knowledge that my child will no longer have a father, and once born, no mother?"

'The keeper is listening.'

A shaky, shuddering intake of breath. She was limp against the tree now, but her hands clutched at it, pleading, desperate all of a sudden.

[=10]
...more like talking to myself.

Taliene.

You've always been flat to me. Especially in the beginning. I know you're not flat, but it's been so hard to portray that when you're so peaceful, so motherly, so sensitive - so stereotypical if not written properly. There were other sides to you, of course. You like to think of yourself as selfless, but we all know you're not. You're selfish. You want to cling to things. And you wallow in self-pity from time to time. Lately, it's been easier to portray you, but that's because you've turned...bitter. Dismal. Dark. I'm better at writing dark sides of characters rather than your old, calm self. And as boring as you can be, you still mean a lot to me.

Rutilus

Ah, Rut. Rut, Rut, Rut. What character could compare? You're my ultimate favourite of any character I've ever made. You started off as this ridiculously flirtatious, happy-go-lucky idiot, and then you...transformed. Became the guy you are now. Protective. Rough, but with that insanely sweet side. Still a flirt, but playfully. Not a heartbreaker, like everyone thought you were. Still sarcastic. And your darker sides - my God, those are fun. Ever-conflicting; you're optimistic, you're pessimistic. You get the blues and then you're right back up again. Your insane moodswings, your tendency to lash out...I love writing you, Rut. Always have. And you come insanely easily to me. The fact that you have more female friends than male friends makes me smile - you're so incredibly defensive of them. Are you ever going to kiss Tuna? Probably not. You're smarter now. Sometimes. And yet you have such stupid, oblivious moments. Idiot. Don't land yourself in hospital again, and we're going to get along just fiiine.

Jared

Oh, Jared. Even from the beginning I barely ever played you! Always so timid, so shy, so boring.

[=10]edit: made a little change, with regards to the characters' belief of what gender the child is.



"I don't want you anymore."



From opposite sides of the room, they stared at eachother, male to female, day to night, light to dark. His auburn eyes burned at her, filled with tears that he was ashamed to shed. Her cerulean orbs stared calmly back at him, blank.

"You can't...you can't."

"Watch me."

"Please--please, Ven, my child, my child..."

"You don't deserve her."

A choked, rattled sob. A weathered hand covered the man's mouth, and now he was staring brokenly not at her, but at her rounded stomach.

"Please, please, please, don't, we'll sort it out, I'll--anything, please--"

"You had your chance."

When she turned away from him, heading towards the door, he lunged forwards desperately and tried to grab her wrist. Reflex kicked in and she whipped it away from him, stared at him for a split second, and then stepped outside.

"Don't try and follow. You wouldn't survive."

"Please--"

"I don't want you. She doesn't want you. Do us all a favour and stay away from my child."

"Our child, he--she--is our child!"

"You're no father."

The man moved forwards, but did not take a step outside the door, staring after her desperately.

"I could be, please, Ven, give me a chance, give me a chance I--anything, I promise you--"

"You had your chance."

"What did I do?! Ven--Ven--let's talk about it, please just come back inside--"

Slowly, she turned to him, smiling coldly.

"Why don't you come outside, baby? When 'your' little girl grows up, she's going to want to play outside, isn't she?

I don't even--I have a History exam today, I won't get home til about 3:00pm, I stayed up 'til 3am last night and I've been up since 7 and I'm so tired and I barely revised and oh God if I fail this I will hate myself forever but I'm good at history so I should be fine but sdfkjhsdfkjheiguhgkjdnvmnvmncvbfhjgbt.

-BREATHES-

Lol hi guys give me caffeine.

...can I please go back to sleep
maybe I could sleep at school
and sleep through the General paper and just waltz in for the Credit
but then if I fail the Credit I'd get no grade at all
fack
there's that plan out of the window.

you took the light in my eyes
and gave it to the reaper
stole the beat of my heart
and sold it to Charon

you took my wedding ring
cast it into the river
ripped out my tongue
so I'd never tell

you bound me to you
forever and ever
a long lonely time
you carved out for yourself

we lay in the dark
depressed everafter
and I could not speak
or escape within death

whenever you smile
perhaps dare to laugh
you'll remember my gasping
and my coffin-trapped heart

When she had told him of what was to come, his reply had been a quiet 'I will deal with it'. The king had disappeared after that, and had not been seen by anyone in his kingdom for days. Despite the goblins' fear of their king, they had grown worried, and run amock in the castle and its grounds, and all the goblin villages, shrieking and wailing. 'KINGY GONE!' or 'KINGY VANISH!' or 'KINGY LEAVE!' was a constant echo, almost background noise now.