The Sailor's Yarn Contest

[KeeperOfTheCode]

I am hereby forming a contest to see who can spin the best yarn of 'em all! Starting August 15th, and continuing through the end of the month, anyone can try to enter their short stories here. Emphasis on 'short'.

Any stories entered will be judged for 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 points by five judges. The person with the most points will be winner!

If you want to judge, please post below. Be aware, as judge, you must be impartial, and it won't do for you to go around giving fives to every story you read. Therefore, make sure you leave behind any partiality you may have, and be ready to break some writers' hearts. There will be several by the end of this.

When you judge a story, post it on the thread. A sixth person will be tallying points. For this, I'd like to ask Crestshot if she wants to.


Judges: Dog Firestack, Ropeburn, William ORoberts, TSC, & Myself.


What: Story-Writing Contest.

When: August 15-30

Furthermore, if you want us to review your stories, you'll have post the name of your story here on this thread, as we can't exactly go reading through every story that pops up.

[Dog Firestack]

Can I be a judge?

[CaptainMonkeys]

I guess I'll have to think up a nice.. short.. story. Don't know if I can do that.

[Ropeburn]

Can you make me a judge?

[KeeperOfTheCode]

Come on people! I need a few more judges!

[William ORoberts]

I can be a judge if you want...

[The Skirata Clan]

I will judge. I am a news writer and a creative writing major. I am also good at editing and feedback.

Also you posted this yesterday and put Aug. 5th as a starting date.

[KeeperOfTheCode]

I'd be delighted to have you, and yes, that was supposed to be 15th.

[CaptainMonkeys]

So I guess I can't use my current story as an entry? It only has about 5 chapters and a prologue at the moment.

[William ORoberts]

I have one question. How long will I have to judge the stories? Or do I judge them as soon as they come in? Hopefully the latter, because school is almost back in, and I won't have as much time as I did over the summer.

[Robin Yerloot]

I'd love to compete

[KeeperOfTheCode]

Judging is from August 15-30.

Originally Posted by CaptainMonkeys

So I guess I can't use my current story as an entry? It only has about 5 chapters and a prologue at the moment.

And no, you can't.

[KeeperOfTheCode]

The Sailor's Yarn Contest is hereby begun! (Cuts ribbon)

[KeeperOfTheCode]

Just a few more days to enter your stories people!

[Crestshot]

Here's my entry! Kind of a spin off from The Scathed, but you really don't need to know The Scathed to read this. Now c'mon mates! Where's me competition?

The Dagger of Ares

Lawrence Mcrage and Kat Crestshot sat in the quarters of the Cutthroat Wolf. The moon shone through the window as they sat talking. Night had fallen over the Caribbean, with only the sound of water washing up against the side of the boat. The sails had been tied down for the night, so Kat and Lawrence sat and relaxed.

“You know, I’ve noticed that dagger constantly hanging on your belt,” Kat said as she sipped a bottle of rum. She leaned back in her chair and eyed the small, shining blade.

Lawrence glanced down at it as well. He grinned. The dagger flashed as he picked it up. “I had my hands full when trying to get this thing,” he said as he tilted it this way and that. “This here…this is special,” he murmured.

Kat was insanely curious now. She leaned forward to admire it with him. “How did you get it?” she asked.

Lawrence’s eyes got a faraway look. “It’s a bit of a long story, Kat,” he said softly.

Kat’s lips tilted up. “It must be a good one then.” She leaned back in her chair. “Well, I’ve got time.”

Lawrence sat the dagger down on the table between them. There was almost an unnatural glow about it. “Alright, you want the story. Well, this is back when I was still sailing with the merchants…”
________________________________________

We sailed pretty far East, following the current towards the Mediterranean Sea. We were planning on doing some trade with the Italians. It was the way there that I was told the story of Ares and Poseidon.

Ares is one of the ancient Greek gods, and is mostly known as the god of war. He was brave, and he was strong, and he led many battles, both for the gods and the mortals.

There is a part of his tale that is widely spread by sea travelers. It was the time of the Trojan War. Ares was opposite of the sea god, Poseidon, allying himself with the Trojans. This plainly angered the sea god, so while Ares lead a battle on the sea, Poseidon attempted to take the war god and drag him under the sea. The gods are not easily killed, but Poseidon wanted to rid Ares’ influence on the world.

Poseidon set one of his creatures on Ares, a giant squid of sorts. The creature tried entangling Ares in its grasp. Ares struggled and twisted, trying to free himself. The beast had wrapped its tentacles around the hero, squeezing and choking him, making it nearly impossible to move. He was barely able to reach a small dagger on his belt. He grasped the handle, slipped it out of its sheath, and stabbed the creature. It writhed in pain and released him. Ares swam back to the surface to lead his troops, but the dagger was lost to the depths and the will of Poseidon.

Now, this is where I come in. We docked on the island of Crete, around the Mediterranean. I had heard the story of the gods only a few days before, so I was amazed when I heard men on the docks talking about it. There were rumors that the dagger may be nearby. A boy had stumbled into a cave, and had run home, screaming about spirits and wild horses and bulls. It was enough to make the locals scorn and ignore, but Captain Donaldson became interested. He figured a treasure such as that could be found and sold for quite an amount. He was a superstitious man, superstitious enough to follow the skeptic’s trail.

He took a group of me, myself included, to the area the boy had run from. We were ordered to separate and look for caves, or anything else mysterious. He told us to call out if we found anything.

I remember the waves washing up on black rock, the white foam a sharp contrast. A giant cliff loomed over me and blocked out the sun. Everyone else had moved much further away in the opposite direction and around a corner. I didn’t really know what I was looking for, so I meandered down the shore. As I made my way, I looked down for barely a second to watch my step, and when I looked back up, there was a giant white stallion standing directly in front of me.

I stood stock still. The horse snuffled me, rustling my clothes. I was nervous to move as I eyed the giant hooves. One kick from those, and I’d be flat on my back, unable to breathe, with an entire chest of broken ribs. So I stood for a full minute while the horse examined me. He finally finished and began walking away without imprinting a hoof on my chest. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I was about to walk the opposite direction to find my crew mates, but the horse glanced back at me. His eyes bore into mine and he neighed. Somehow, I knew that he wanted me to follow, so I did as much. He snorted and continued walking.

I picked my way across the rocks, trying to follow the brisk place of the stallion. Who knows how he got through all those small rocks with those hooves of his. We walked for a few minutes until the stallion finally stopped in front of the wall of the cliff. This piece of rock looked just like all the others. I examined the wall closely, running my hands along it, but I didn’t know what I was looking for. The stallion gave a whinny, shaking his head, making his long mane fling wildly.

At that, the wall cracked open, just a bit. I was startled and jumped back, believing the wall was about to come crumbling down on me. Instead, it continued opening just enough for me to slip in sideways. I was hesitant to go in, but the horse gave an aggressive neigh and pushed me towards the wall with his nose. “Alright, alright, I’m going,” I muttered to it. I slipped inside, my hands on the wall, leading me through the darkness. My eyes faced forward, looking for a sliver of light, but all I could see was what came from behind me. All I could hear was the pounding of my heart.

All I thought going into that rock was “Why am I listening to a horse?” I thought I was losing my mind. The darkness was complete now, so I had no idea of time or direction except for where the wall led me. I was about to turn back and go the other direction when I saw a silver flash. At first I believed it was my imagination, but then it came gain. Leaving wasn’t even in my mind any more. I had to figure out what that silver shine was.

It ended up being further away than I had originally thought, taking a few more minutes, but I got into a small cavern with water up to my ankles. There was sunlight coming from a hole in the ceiling. I looked at that first, placing my hand in front of the light to shield my eyes from the brightness. My eyes adjusted quickly and I was able to see the cavern more clearly.

I don’t know what I expected to see, but I most definitely did not expect for the place to be completely empty. All that was there was the dark rippling water and the wall of rocks. I couldn’t help but sigh in exasperation. My thoughts were that the horse had sent me on a pointless task.

Then, the water became more disturbed. No ripples from my feet were causing this. These were unnatural waves and splashes and I felt a… presence in the room with me. I didn’t know what was going on. Wind flew through the previously empty chamber and I thought I saw bulls and horses coming at me through the typhoon forming. I could do nothing but stand and protect my eyes from the spray of water.

The next thing I know, the typhoon came towards me and engulfed me. Yet, I didn’t get wet. There was complete silence in the center, and an odd feeling of peace. Tranquility is probably the most apt word. I felt none of the fear that had been coursing through my veins only moments before.

So I stood there in my peace. As I did so, parts of the water come from the twister and formed in front of my face. It streamed until it became a definite shape, and then a solid. When the last droplet formed, everything fell. The typhoon collapsed, the wind disappeared, and the object fell into the water with a splash.

Everything was unnaturally still from what had just occurred. I hesitated, and then reached down into the water. My hand returned to the air with a beautiful dagger in its grip.

I unsheathed it slowly. “Ares…” I whispered. I don’t know how I knew, but somehow, as I examined the blade, I just did. I glanced around the cavern. “Poseidon…”

I quickly sheathed the blade and clipped it to my belt. It was time to get out of there. I found the crack I had used to come into the room and slipped back in. My journey was much quicker this time. I knew where I was going and felt no fear from the darkness.

The white stallion wasn’t waiting outside the wall, but I didn’t expect him to be. He had done his job. I had barely escaped the cliff when my crewmate rounded the corner. He told me the captain had given up on his search and we were headed back to the ship. I happily followed. For some reason, my crewmate didn’t notice the dagger.
________________________________________

“This dagger… It’s special, Kat,” Lawrence said, finishing up his story. “Even after all that I went through – betrayal, jail, being wanted for piracy – it’s still somehow with me.” He touched the dagger reverently with the tips of his fingers.

Kat looked at the weapon for a moment as well. Then she grinned. “I think you’ve had a little too much rum mate,” she joked. “Good story though. Come on, I want to check the sails before sleep.” She set her rum on the table before exiting.

Lawrence picked the dagger up. He held it close to his face for a moment, just looking at it. With a content smile, he clipped it back on his belt. “Thank you Poseidon.”