Final Quest - The Aftermath

I always loved "Last Action Hero" - a new view on what we authors put up our characters up with. This is about taking responsibility of our creations, please feel free to join.


Wendy sighed as she put down the cintiq.  

"Done, finally done."

Little did she know what would be happening the next night...

**How can you sleep creating a mess like this?**

Wendy awoke with a start.  A pair of russet eyes focussed her, gleaming in the dark, unmoved.

"Strongbow? How...?"

**You killed my lifemate.  You killed my chief.  None of this would have been necessary to tell your tale.**

"OK.  I must be dreaming.  Just let me focus my mind, OK?"

**You had lots of time to focus on the Final Quest, as you call it.  What went wrong?**

"Uh... I think I told the tale as best as I could?"

**What about responsibility?**

"Come again?"

**In the beginning you portrayed me as a rough, die-hard conservative.  Remember that fateful line about Cutter 'getting Leetah' after they Recognized?**

"Um, yes, I guess it came along as a bit... too hard.  Seriously, at that time you had been an underdeveloped character---"

**I had been WHAT?!**

"Please, my head hurts when you send like that... let me explain... in the beginning there were only a few main characters and I had no idea you would be gathering such an amount of followers..."

**So you needed a whipping boy?  I sure felt that at Blue Mountain...**

"No, no, I didn't mean that... I meant, the Old Quest was focusing mainly on Cutter and Leetah, so..."

**I see... what do you think your 'Final Quest' was focusing upon?**

"Look, I only wanted to finish the tale."

**Did you ever care about how your characters feel about your storytelling?  You murdered all but a few of sweet Pike's loved ones, turned Skywise into a, what do you call it, 'neurotic mess', and I won't even start about any others.  Don't you feel responsible about what you did?**

"Oh, of course I do! I..."

Wendy paused.  She needed time to think...

Lol

*DED*

Lol!!!! Wonderful!

Please feel free to add to Wendy's nightmare...

Excellent! *bows* I'm very happy you've fleshed out this idea and shared it.

I would add, but I'm getting smacked in the head with FQ issues by Freetouch right now, going, "Daddy said fix this shyt!"

Gonna go hide now -.-

Stormcatcher wrote:

Please feel free to add to Wendy's nightmare...

*sits on the muse* No. Do not EVEN.

Working in something but can't get it done yet! I beg your indulgence and ask others to wait before adding their own, if I may.

Here is my start:
But she wasn't going to get any time to think. She felt a weight settle on the end of the bed and found gold eyes fixed on her with a sadness she had never seen in them before.

I am quite enjoying this as well.^^

I think this needs more work but my eyes are litter crossing from exhaustion and I don't want to delay anyone esle.

But she wasn't going to get any time to think.  She felt a weight settle on the end of the bed and found gold eyes fixed on her with a sadness she had never seen in them before.

"What did I do, Wendy?"

"Do?" she repeated, brow furrowing as she thought back.

"I was prepared to suffer. I was prepared to be excluded from the Palace and the storyline. But even I don't understand what you had me do."

"Well, generally antagonists push the story forward-"

"I didn't push anything forward, Wendy!  At best I stagnated; at worst I relapsed!  How is holding Winnowill prisoner - denying her the healing she needs - for my own ends anything but an act of blindness and cruelty on the scale of the Time Trip? Yet you laughed it off with a joke about the Preservers!"

She cleared her throat. "Sometimes the narrative calls for a lightening of the mood. I thought-"

"What. Did. I. DO?" he cut her off with a growl. "No one wants to read the story of the whining narcissist who turned his back on salvation for both of them in order to torture someone else into loving him! Or was my fan manga right about me taking a principled stand to protect Winnowill's right to consent?"

"Why do you do this to me? If I had not striven to restore the Palace there would not be a new Palace-ship. There would be no galactic oasis and no new starhome. We would still be in the Stone Age for Yurek's sake. I moved your story, alright!"

"So I ask you again. What did I do? Did I make another horrific mistake or did I make a courageous and loving choice? And what did I ever do to you that you can't let me have any of the other things your precious Wolfriders get, like a fulfilling life-mating and children to raise?"

*incoherent squeeeing*
I'm new here... how do we "like" things?

Perfect way to do so, Blue Coyote!

Aah... poor Rayek! *offers a hug* He has reason to complain, manga - and he deserves an answer.

Don't know if I can do this correctly, but seems the best way to express my feelings for the end of the quest:

A figure shifts in the corner, dim and insubstantial, seeming nothing more than a patch of dappled moonlight. Only the quick glint of blue eyes and silver from a crescent sword to prove him more than a trick of the eyes.

"Did you tire of me, Wendy?"

"Once I was 'so full of life's fire', teaching 'events need not be accepted with graceful submission.'"

"But that was your lesson for me, wasn't it? Starting in Blue Mountain, I had to learn that I wasn't in control. You had to take and take from me until I was diminished to no more than a small part in your new ideal. So I'd have no fight left when the end came."

"Did I become too real? Did you make me too human? Was the pain of memory your pain remembering what we once were?"

He chuckled darkly. "But you couldn't give me a clean death, could you? Couldn't let me go completely. Had to find some way to keep me around, more than just a part of your new idealized High One, but as a doppelganger cub."

"I wonder," he muses as he fades away, "will you be able to walk away from him?"

Well written, Outlier!

At least Cutter could take it with a sense of humor.

This thread receives my seal of approval.

Wendy flung off the thrash-tangled sheets and clambered out of the bed where Richard snored on oblivious. I can't take anymore of this! She thought, pushing her tousled hair out of her eyes. It's just dreams! They're just characters! I just have to stay awake until morning and then this will all be over...
She told herself she wasn't hurrying as her slippered feet carried her to the refuge of the kitchen. Her hand wasn't shaking as she flipped on the light. She wasn't sighing a breath of relief to find the room empty.
Once the kettle was on she began to feel a little better, They're my characters, I made them, I can do whatever I-
THUNK!!!Crash!Thunnnnggggggggg
The electric kettle exploded as a hard-flung spear pierced it. Wendy stared in shock at the spear embedded in her backsplash, quivering slightly from the force of the throw. She was afraid to look behind her, but a disgusted little scoff, rather than the growl she was expecting made her head turn. Flaming red-gold locks were caught up in a Chief's Lock and tumbled down over warm brown shoulders and a pair of blue-green eyes that were full of cold fury.
'What happened to your feminism?" The chieftess asked and Wendy flinched, that wasn't what she expected to be hit with.
"What do you mean? You're chief, and a warrior, and-"
A sharp bitter laugh cut her off, "Oh yes, a warrior who just surrenders for no reason? What was that for?"
"Well to save your tribe-mates..."
"I could have led the humans the other way!" The tiny redhead cut her off angrily. "They'd just lost their leader, they were terrified, why did I have to throw down my sword and surrender?"
"Well, you'd just Recognized and..." Wendy trailed off, quailing before the searing gaze that had her pinned as though held by Rayek's power.
"Oh yes. That. Do explain what you meant by that!"
"Umm... well," Wendy gulped and tried to rally her thoughts. How could this be happening? How could her dreams be here and alive and still calling her out under the harsh electric light? "I wanted to show that Recognition could be a c-choice? That's... that's feminist. Right?"
"You already did that with Nightfall and Redlance. Why didn't Dewshine get a choice? She was a prisoner, she Recognized one of her captors and even asked Leetah for help fighting it, and you made her go through with it. But for me Recognizing my own lovemate that is somehow the exception?"
"Well... but the warmen..."
"The warmen took ten years to get to us. I could have had plenty of time to have the cub and still be able to fight. Feminism would have been letting be a mother and a warrior! Feminism would have been not treating "lifebearers" as if that is all they ever are, not treating grown women like little cubs!!" The chieftess turned away and leaned against the doorjamb suddenly sad rather than angry.
"And what of the cubs Wendy?"
"Well I don't entirely mean to end the stories, there's still time for you-" Wendy began but was interrupted again.
"Not our cubs, your cubs. What of all the girls reading your story and hoping for something to look up to?"
A tinkle of broken glass distracted her and Wendy looked over at the shattered kettle. The spear was gone and when she looked back to the doorway so was the chieftess.

Ha! Good, BlueCoyote!

Great one!!

*echoes previous comments*
Great entry of an annoyed chieftess, BlueCoyote! And then this sad ... epilogue. *hugs*

[Maybe there is some exaggeration, but anyway.]

Wendy was puzzled by the recent events.
Was she hallucinating? Still dreaming? But the kitchen felt kinda real. She looked at the wall to check the CO monitor. No, everything in that regard was okay. No gas that could cause it.
Somewhat relieved, but still worried about her condition, she went back upstairs. Should she wake Richard to discuss that...? Nah, he's probably just be grumpy to be woken at that time. Maybe she should surf the net for a few minutes until she had calmed down, the get back to sleep? Read some of the praise on the social media platforms?
She went to a wardrobe cabinet to fetch a fressing gown.

"Hiii!"
She jumped back in surprise.
"Hi?"
A rather tall elf stood there, right in her wardrobe.
"WHO are you?" she shouted.
"Me? Ah... aww. You... you don't remember me?" the elf whispered with a shy voice.
"Uuh, should I?" Wendy asked with suspicion. "But you're certainly using my dresses."
The elf sighed and his shoulders slumped.
"I'm Harotim? Does that... ring any bell? You know, one of the palace dwellers with these fancy clothes?" he hinted carefully.
"Well." Wendy hesitated "There were many of them."
The elf sighed and desparation crept into his glance.
"Door's son?"
She thought, then nodded. "Yes, there was someone... ah, come on. You probably got at least 3 panels screentime, isn't that enough, ... what was your name?"
"Ha-ro-tim! One of the many characters that you two introduced just as a hint for something else or as a rack for your newest transparent cloth creations. So this is the right place, in your closet, whenever you need a rack for a new creation." his voice was filled with unhappiness.
"Why? Why bring us all to life - just to be forgotten so soon?" he complained.
"Elfquest has always been rich of char..." she started.
"But when you gave us a name you woke us to life. But we remained flat and never reached the depth, never gained the life of the others. Just puppets for new clothes."
"A comic is a lot of work, and..."
"And?"
"Hamor... uhh, haru... harotam, I can assure you..."
"Even you forgot me!" he sobbed. "Why did you make us live at all?!"
For a moment both stood in silence.
"Ah, just turn around and I'll vanish, vanish from your memory like from anyone else's who forgot the others and me after a few pages." he said with one last sad and reproachful glance.
Her tired eyes blinked.
Quickly the shape became more and more transparent until he had completely vanished.
Silence filled the little cabinet, just the slight humming of the electric light could be heard. The clothes hung there, unmoved as before. But now she didn't dare to touch any of them and rather slammed the door shut in a light panic, like she wanted to bury an unbidden ghost there.
Maybe it would help to draw to get these restless thoughts handled?

Now that's an unexpected visitation!

Harotim. In a wardrobe. XD He claims a life of his own. And for all the other schemes of characters we've seen but never known. I love it, jaRf!


And I'd like to include a familiar character in this lament - Aurek. Besides the (now questionable) Kahvi series he never had a life. Surviving a mountain collapsing on you ... and then 10,000 years of being "buried alive" alone ... just to return into stasis again? Seriously? Each time I've seen Aurek in FQ he looks either like a dying elf or like a ghost (thanks to this unbecoming night gown).
Dedicaded to his task? Fine. It's time for vacations!

I prefer to believe that he (for whatever reason) went undergroung looooong after the Kahvi series happened!

Love it!