So, to commemorate our new forums, I thought it would be fun to take my very first piece of fanlore and rewrite it to see how much I’ve improved.
Needless to say I still suck.
Plus, realistically only I have ever read this one because it sucked so nobody but I can compare but shhhhhhhhhhh.
Anyway, without further ago, I have you A Lead: Revamped
The doors to the pub swung open on a scorching hot Sunday afternoon, revealing a handsome, blonde man wearing a black jacket with stripes of red, tight red pants, black boots and a white undershirt. Every step he took seemed to be in slow motion, as a small white bird flew around him, scattering rose petals that it had been storing in its beak. The petals vaguely formed a path between the pub doors and the man, but it was just messy enough to be an utter pain to clean up after. The blonde man took out a rose from a pocket on his left side, and placed it into his hair, in such a way where it pointed backwards, and was held in place by his ear. The bird, now out of petals, flew back out, where it landed on the shoulder or a river troll, who was being careful not to lean on the cheap walls of the pub.
A grand entrance, to say the least. The whole pub watched silently, heads turned and drinks in hand, as the man walked towards the counter.
‘Is he gay?’ they all thought.
As he reached the counter, he pointlessly placed his rose back into his pocket, and slammed a few coins onto the counter. With a straight face, as if nothing was wrong, he stared at the bartender with his icey blue eyes.
"Do you have any… Blue Beach?"
A few moments passed, before the bartender responded.
“What”
“Blue Beach? Do you have any? It’s a personal favourite of mine, and I’m feeling quite thirsty.”
The pair stared at each other for a solid ten seconds, before the bartender finally spoke.
“It’s either Heineken or water”
“I’ll take the water.”
The bartender hiccupped, and picked up a glass from under the counter, and walked over to the back of the pub. It seemed that the kegs were only for beer. The bartender returned, with a glass of what was obviously lukewarm tap water in hand, and placed it in front of his customer.
"Havn’t seen you round here. What’s your name?"
The bartenders southern accent complimented his curiosity, and it sounded smooth as butter.
The blonde man took this as a challenge.
"Black. Blackfeather."
After saying something ridiculous, but smoother than the bartender, he felt a small tinge of satisfaction, and a smile crawled onto his face.
"I’m looking the feather of a… Seraphim. A blue one. I heard you’re a good source.”
“Sorry partn’r, but I’ve got nothin. Nobody is a good enough informant to know where a Sepaphim is. Nobody has seen anyone of that kind for multiple lifetimes”
“I… understand. Thank you for your time”
After hastily chugging his drink, Blackfeather stood up and whistled. Suddenly, the bird from moments before flew in and landed on his shoulder. Blackfeather took out the rose and placed it in the birds beak and walked out of the pub, glowing on the inside, even when his trip had meant nothing. He looked fabulous, at least according to his own criteria.
“Keep the change”
Those were the last words he spoke as the doors closed behind him.
Nailed it
"No luck today either, Phinneas."
Phinn the river troll stood high above Blackfeather, and whiles shuffling a small amount to the being in the middle of trying to undo a knot in his chain, he responded concentrated on his work.
"You never get any luck. This is the 4th Pub already, Blackfeather. Maybe, we should use the other feathers that we’ve gotten."
Phinn turned, pointing out the pocked where Blackfeather kept the spoils from their previous adventures. Blackfeather placed his hand inside, and took out a yellow, a green and a red feather, which all shined brightly in the sunset.
“You see, Phinneas. None of these are Blue. There’s a massive difference.”
“I only told you that it works better, not that its the only one that would work.”
“Just in case, Phinneas. Just in case.”
“So your only going to accept a blue one?”
"One of a dark black would also be very welcome."
After seeing Blackfeathers annoying and cheeky grin, Phinn sighed, and turned back around to do his unknotting. Blackfeather took the rose out of the birds mouth, and he placed it back into his pocket. The bird landed back onto Phinns shoulder, and he remembered what he had been irritated by for a while.
“Blackfeather. Stop teaching Susie tricks for your introductions and exits.”
“If I must choose between looking not looking handsome and looking handsome, I’ll choose the latter.”
"I know you will. I’ve known you for more than a day.”
Phinn spun the anchor around 3 times, and his mission was complete. He picked his pipe off the ground and placed it into his mouth, blowing small bubbles out of the end. He took a moment to have a small stretch, before yawning and rubbing his eyes.
“What’s wrong, Phinneas? Surely you cannot be tired after such a small endeavour!”
“We haven’t slept for three days, Blackfeather. We should just take a break, and move to the next town.”
“Incorrect, my comrade. We still have not searched the market! It is the last place we have yet to explore.”
“Searching is not what I plan to do today, Blackfeather. A nice nap sounds like a strategic move.”
“One of a coward!”
“One of a thinker.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“I mean, we can’t leave our fragile princess in an inn all day, unprotected, can we? I’m speaking as a gentlemen here, not as a adventurer.”
"Very well. I will stay guard, and keep the princess safe. Meanwhile, you, Phinneas, will search for information about Blue Seraphim feather."
Phinn paused, to take a particularly large bubble blow from his pipe.
“You’re more dangerous to her than 3 assassins put together.”
“In what way?”
“You know which way.”
“I’m not shady like that! I am a gentlemen, Phinneas!”
"Is kidnapping a common practice among gentlemen?"
Blackfeather paused for a moment, then gave up, deciding that Phinn had a fair point.
"Very well then. Phinneas, you shall protect the princess in the inn, while I go searching for clues at the last nook of this town!"
Blackfeather walked towards the Inn, before realising his mistake when he realised Phinn was following him, and he turned back towards the market.
The market bustled with life, with the sun high in the sky and the merchants selling pricey goods that were in reality quite cheap, hoping nobody would find out. Blackfeather strolled around, trying to find antique stalls, but his journey was quite uneventful. Not only were many of these shops empty of stock, but they were empty of owners. These stores generally seemed like the type to suddenly close down, so Blackfeather thought nothing of it and continued on. He went deeper into the market place, and the stalls began to grow larger and larger. Soon, he saw full sized stores, alongside the peddlers that took advantage of the popularity in this area of the market place. Blackfeather kept searching until he found a peculiar little stall, which was on the corner of two stalls at a crossroads. There sat a small girl with silver, glistening hair who was focused on a crystal ball in front of her. The girl had obviously made an effort to hide her age, but her bright purple cloak didn’t cover her small stature or her face enough to have any sort of real different. She seemed to be fazed out, as she took about 3 seconds to respond to Blackfeather walking up to her stall.
"Hello there, darling."
Blackfeather winked, and the girl stared, shocked and disgusted. It wasn’t often that someone came and hit on her, but most of the time it was someone her age, as a joke or dare.
"I was wondering if you could offer me some information on a… magical artifact."
Well, business was business. Barely anyone took her divination seriously, considering her age.
“It depends if you can afford it… Mr…”
“Black. Black, Feather.”
"Mr Blackfeather, sir. How much do you have on you?"
Blackfeather took out a small pile of change that was left from his last adventure, and placed it on the table, alongside a rose.
“The flowers a bonus.”
“Why?”
"Because seeing such beauty should be a paid service for a man like me."
The girl threw up in her mouth a little, and covered her head a little more with the cloak. She took seven silver out of the pile, alongside the rose, begrudgingly.
“So, what artifact are you looking for, Mr Blackfeather?”
"Something called… A Blue Seraphim feather."
The girl stopped for a moment, almost as if she was frozen, and then she suddenly ducked under the desk, and opened up an ancient, massive book. She flicked through the pages before landing on the section she wanted.
"Seraphim. Half Dragon. Rare, know an large array of magic, very powerful. Also very rare. Often idolised as a deity in some cultures.”
She paused and looked up towards Blackfeather, curious.
“Why do you need the feather anyway? It certainly isn’t an easy task…”
Straight faced, Blackfeather responded.
“I accidentally poisoned a young girl and I need her to get out of her coma”
Which spell was the whistle spell again?
The girl looked into her crystal ball for a few moments, before looking up at Blackfeather.
“It’s possible. I see one.”
“Do you know their name? Or their location?”
"Let me see…"
The orb began to glow, with the soft light revealing ancient rune-like markings.
"His name is Adagio, and he is located currently in the woods, far north from here. He’s known to have a lazy and condescending attitude."
Overjoyed, Blackfeather pushed the rest of the money towards the girl.
"Got it. Thank you darling, you helped a lot."
Blackfeather struck a pose before leaving, satisfied with his departure from the stall and the market place. It was time to regroup with his partner.