Writing: Changed Woman and Wounded Returning [Jaz]

    That was an uber-lame title, wasn't it?

   So, surprise! Here I am. I continue to live and fight on through the last week of regular school we're doing before starting to get the house packed up. I can feel the minutes slipping away from us and it's a mite disconcerting.

   But, today I was getting my writing excerpts for the critique groups at the OYAN Summer Workshops all sorted and printed and such and realized I had a bit that I could post for Jaz that I hadn't already posted. (...That was a total run-on sentence.)

   There are two bits, though, one preceding and one following a fateful mission that Jaz underwent. Long and short of it, Jaz goes on this suicide mission in a bid to prevent the outbreak of a war, and while she succeeds, she's caught an explosion that lands her in a foreign hospital with a bad case of amnesia. After time, she gets into mercenary work with another woman named Tracey, who will appear in the second bit.

    And now my dad is calling us to do money, so if the combination of this explanation and the bits are completely confusing to you, just leave a comment and I'll attempt to explain it so it makes sense.

   Also, please take WARNING because there are mentions of torture in the first bit.


     Jaz didn’t have to take the mission. Whitecourt made that abundantly clear. He wasn’t even one hundred percent sold on the idea, except that it could be the deciding factor in whether or not war broke out between Busan and several other of the dominating city states.
    She stood in front of his desk, hands deep in her pockets and her face impassive as he explained what the job would require.
    Stealth, accuracy, intuition, and very possibly her life.
    The weathered commander studied his subordinate, searching for a reaction to his words and finding none, not to his surprise.
    It’d only been three months since her fateful mission with Mio Sonera and Levi Dayton, and while the wounds on her body had healed, the scars on her heart were deep and jagged. He didn’t know that she would ever truly recover from the blow those deaths had landed.
    She hadn’t known how it happened, but their cover had been blown from the moment they stepped into the party. Their target had had all three of them in his clutches before the end of the night. There had been no chance of escape, no way to send someone for help. Jaz’s report on the incident had been everything required, and he could easily imagine what those events had done to her on the inside. Her life being spared was purposeful.
    Tetson had tortured all three mercilessly and sent the one who lasted the longest home as a message.
    She’d stumbled back into Busan, broken, bleeding, and eerily devoid of the devastation one would’ve expected to see on her face. He’d been ready to send out any available units to search for them when she’d shown up in his office, rasped out a “Jasmine O’Haire with mission details, sir” and collapsed in a heap on his floor.
    It had taken the captain a solid month to recuperate, during which time he’d been forced to field the demands for answers from all four of her overprotective teammates, who’d been unaware of her mission altogether.
    He’d visited her a couple of times while she’d been in the hospital, and it was clear she’d changed. Granted, the cocky smirk returned quickly, but there was a steely edge behind it, like it could’ve been dropped in a moment and replaced with an expression that hid everything from those around her.
    As soon as Jaz had cleared both the medical and psychological evaluation though, she’d been in his office, ready to accept a mission, but “I can’t work on a team, sir. Not right now.”
    The majority of solo missions were involved in the collecting of information, taking weeks as opposed to days to complete, and requiring much more patience and subtlety to carry out. Discernment as well. The agent had to know when to pull out and how to keep a low profile in the town or city that was their target.
    The remaining percent of solo missions were ones that Whitecourt, and Busan as a whole, didn’t endorse. They were high-risk operations that required the highest skill and precision that a city could have to offer as well as stealth and speed.
    They were more commonly known as suicide missions.
    Jaz hadn’t been his first choice for this task. There’d been several other black-ops captains he’d had in mind, but most of them were away on different ops with their teams, or just returning, and this would require a departure within the next forty-eight to seventy-two hours.
    “Can I have some time, sir?”
    It was her only request after he finished explaining everything and it was readily granted.


   And that is bit one. Following thus far? Hopefully so, because here we go onto the second.


    Jaz approached the city with Tracey by her side, frowning as the gate loomed overhead.
    “Hey, do you get the feeling we’ve been here before?”
    The other woman glanced her way, brows rising. “No. Do you?”
    “Yeah, for some reason,” Jaz murmured, shoving her hands deep in her pockets.
    They continued into the walled city, passing through the gate guards without a hitch, their falsified credentials getting them in as planned.
    Jaz had to stop after a few minute when a stand selling fried bean paste buns came into view. Her gaze settled on it, face unusually blank.
    “We have work to do,” Tracey said, a few paces away.
    “And this place is creeping me out,” Jaz’s tone was short as she passed Tracey, shoulders tense. “Let’s get this job done.”
    Her companion didn’t comment, falling into step beside the auburn-haired woman. They weren’t far when someone called after them.
    “Jaz...?”
    It was a man’s voice, uncertain but with an underlying note of hope.
    She stopped, exchanging a glance with Tracey. If they hadn’t been here before, why did someone know her name...?
     Jaz sighed and turned partially to see two males, instead of just the one, as she’d expected to see.
     Neither of their faces looked familiar, but it seemed like they recognized her, which was unsettling.
     “I think you’ve got the wrong person,” Jaz said, a faint smirk on her lips.
    The blond one’s fist clenched around the foodstuff in his hand. “This is not funny, Jaz. Where have you been?”
    “There was never anything funny in the first place, kid. You’ve mistaken me for someone else.”
    He strode forward and grabbed her by her upper arms. It was all she could do to not fell him with one blow, and she could see Tracey tensed up as well in her peripherals.
    “Jaz, its Dan. You know me, and Zack, so quit fooling around.” Desperation showed in his hazel eyes in a way she didn’t see very often.
    “Look, kid, I’m sorry. I honestly don’t remember know you, so just, let go of me, will you?” Jaz attempted to step away from him and escape the tight hold he had on her, but he didn’t seem to have plans to turn her loose anytime soon.
    Horror dawned in his eyes. “You’re telling the truth. Zack—“ he turned partially towards his companion, who hadn’t moved since she’d turned to look at them.
    He did now though, coming forward slowly, his dark eyes trained on her face with some caution. “Whitecourt’s going to want to see her.”
    “Everybody’s gonna want to see her!” the blond exclaimed, still not having released Jaz and she’d had enough.
    It was an easy enough task to bring her arms up, grab his elbows and yanked them inwards before shoving them up, causing a pained yelp to escape him as his fingers finally loosened. Jaz took a neat step back, all intentions of humoring their case of mistaken identity any longer fleeing.
    After all, what else could it be but mistaken identity? She couldn’t see herself living in this city with these people. Something about it didn’t sit right with her.
    Crossing her arms over her chest, Jaz’s jade eyes were cool and it was clear that she was done. Around them, people still went to and fro on their business, but it was relatively calm with minimal noise, likely due to the hour.
    “I’m sorry if I remind you two of an ex-girlfriend,” she said, voice crisp and to the point. “But I have business in this city and you’re keeping me from it.”
    Tracey, standing in Jaz’s peripherals, was taking in the proceedings with nary a thought showing on her traditionally unexpressive features.
    Despair showed on the fairer of the two. Dan, was it?
    Thinking the name made pain spark behind her eyes so she stopped.
    “Please, Jaz, don’t do this. We can help you. Whitecourt said he’d sent you on some mission; an important one. But you never came back and we searched for you, but we never found you.”
    She blinked impassively at him. “I can’t imagine what you’re talking about. I have no active relationship with the military force of any city, and I don’t intend to have one.”
    The other man put his forgotten snack into Dan’s hands, then faced her with a steely glint in his gaze. Something in his eyes put Jaz on edge and she narrowed her gaze a fraction, trying to discern his thoughts.
    “Jasmine O’Haire, I am placing you under arrest on charge of suspected treason—“
    Her eyes widened, but her accuser’s counterpart got a word in before she could.
    “Zack! What on earth are you thinking?” Dan shouted, grabbing his friend’s arm, his panicked gaze going to Jaz.
    The darker of the two didn’t react to Dan’s outburst, glancing him a look. “Trust me on this.”
   Jaz shook her head, stuffing her hands in her pockets. Her smile was bemused. “They said that Busan was a pretty weird, but accosting visitors to your fair city with false accusations of treason?” Her voice hardened. “That’s a whole new low and one that I do not have to submit to.”
    “You do and you will,” Zack replied, unmoved.
    And, watching him, Jasmine decided not to fight. She shrugged and asked with somewhat flinty humor, “Am I allowed a private word with my friend, or have I lost visitor’s rights already?”
    It was apparent that Zack didn’t appreciate it, but he nodded once. “One minute.”
    “How generous.” Jaz replied, voice flat, then she gestured to Tracey and they walked until they were out of earshot.
    Her partner’s eyes were narrowed. “You could get away.”
    “I could. But I’m not going to. Finish the job and beat feet. Tell Sakimoto that I bailed or got injured or some convincing crap. He’ll believe you and should give you my half of the payment. If not…”
    Humor glinted in Tracey’s blue-green gaze, something that not many people were privilege to. Jaz smirked in return.
    “It’s been nice working with you, Trace,” she said at last, extending a hand.
    Tracey clasped her forearm and pulled her forward into a brief hug that Jaz hadn’t expected but didn’t protest.
    “I’ll see you around, O’Haire,” the older woman said, touching her fingers to her forelock in an informal salute before she turned and disappeared into the crowd.
    Jaz shook her head and refused to acknowledge the faint wistfulness that drifted through her.
    Before turning back to her latest acquaintances, she wiped her face of what she’d shown to Tracey and settled on something decidedly bland.


   Hm, need to go put a warning in. Hang on a sec.

   And done. Now I must run.

   Thanks for reading and again, I have no problems explaining things I have bungled, so feel free to leave questions in the comments and I'll get to them as soon as I can.

   Ad astra per aspera.
   To the stars, through difficulties.

I Yet Live/Writing: Steampunk Jade and Kensey

   No, really, I do.

   And I think there's still some life in these fingers and some breath to the characters in my head, but between going from one end of Korea to the other, trying to do schoolwork, taking a two-week computer hiatus, and trying to figure out getting moved completely from Korea in the next month, things have been a bit touch-and-go, to say the least.

   So, while I would like to say I'll be able to post something for you all in the near future, I can't promise anything, because the next four weeks are going to hold a lot of craziness, and then there'll be a whole bunch of craziness for two or so weeks after that, and... Yeah. There's a lot going on.

   Granted, there's a chance that the craziness will drive me to write something, if only to escape all that's occurring, but we'll see.

    In the meantime, I found a short scribble I wrote for Steampunk Jade during her four year leave of absence, with a woman named Kensey who was the main reason she was finally able to get her head put on straight. May or may not have mentioned her in the summary I did for the Steampunk. Totally can't remember now...


    “What’s your story then?”
    Jade glanced at Kensey from the corner of her eye, then turned back to cleaning out her gun. “There’s nothing to tell.”
    “I disagree,” Kensey drawled, sloshing the bottle of brandy around, watching its contents with distracted interest.
    The younger woman didn’t reply, intent on her task, and hoping that she would give up her line of interrogation. Jade had no desire to explain why she’d left Sanbourne almost four years ago, and even now, she had to stop in her work to take a breath.
    Four years.
    Shak, Nathan, I’m sorry.
    “And that is exactly why you should have some of this,” the brandy was dropped on the table beside Jade’s elbow. “Then start talking.”
    A quiet exhale. “Ji.”
    Kensey pulled herself up to sit on Jaden’s other side, mouth quirked in humor. “You’re one tough cookie, kid, but no one can keep locked up forever.”
    I’ve lasted this far, haven’t I?
    “Oi, stop ignoring me,” the blond interrupted her thoughts, now sounding cross.
    Jade leaned back in her chair, drumming on the wooden desk with her oil-stained fingers. She fixed the elder woman with an calculating look. “I have nothing to say about myself, Kensey, and I’ve made myself clear on that several times now.”
    “Don’t you get hoity-toity with me, kiddo,” Kensey grumbled, grabbing the brandy to drink straight from the bottle, as she’d been doing off-and-on all evening.
    Jade almost wanted some of the burning alcohol; memories haunted her stronger than usual tonight, and she knew from experience that the liquor could dull that pain.
    “What a pair...” Jade said on a quiet breath, returning her attention to her dismantled weapon. 
    She continued to rub the now-filthy cloth along the inside of the barrel, taking care not to scratch the interior.
    Kensey frowned. “Excuse me?”
    “Nothing, Kensey,” the Gogamian murmured as she pulled the rag free and set about putting her gun back together.
    “You are honestly so very strange,” the woman said, jumping down off the table and taking her brandy with her.
    Jade hummed noncommittally, sliding her gun back into its holster, and then starting to scrub the grime off of her fingers. The oil lamps in the room all flickered as a strong breeze blew through, ruffling Jade’s hair.
    She shook her head to get her bangs from her eyes, noting how they had lengthened recently. Kensey had retreated to one of the armchairs, and was flipping through a log while continuing to nurse her alcohol.
    Jade thought she was preoccupied enough to drop the earlier subject; she wasn’t.
    “Who was he?” the sick woman voiced after a long silence, the abrasiveness she was known for dropped from her tone.
    “My brother,” Jaden almost didn’t get the words out, because her throat tightened as she said them. “But I was the fool.”
    “We’re all fools in love,” Kensey replied.
    “I suppose you could say that,” Jade stood up, pulling on her shoulder holster like a jacket, then putting her trench-coat on as well. The night air was chillier then normal and she was starting to feel cold.
    “Why’d you leave?” the blond prompted behind her.
    She was tempted to ignore the other, to refuse to continue saying it aloud, but Kensey was tenacious; she’d keep coming back until she’d heard all she wanted to.
    “He got married and I couldn’t accept her, so I left.” Jade relented after a few moments of quiet.


    And that's all I've got for the moment. Again, I'll see about working on stuff, but balance is kind of key right now and some things will have to fall lower in my list of priorities then others. So.

    I'm off to clean and vacuum my room. You all have a good day/night/whatever and thanks for being patient with me!

    Ad astra per aspera.
    To the stars, through difficulties.

Back Online

   It's a bit early (Friday evening) but I'm expecting a busy weekend, so I decided to get on now as opposed to tomorrow in a bid to Skype with Penny, if she's not busy.

   So, yes, I'm back online, and hast got news. Exciting news.

   First of all, we have received our assignment from the military and sometime before the end of August, my family and I shall be moving to the Pentagon, which is balanced somewhere between Maryland and Virginia. This came as only a complete surprise to us, as we never expected to be placed anywhere near there. We were expecting Germany or Japan before D.C. But, on the bright side, we'll be near our cousins and only a day of hard driving from Penny and her family. So. Much fun.

   Second of all, I am registered for the OYAN Summer Workshops hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Schwabauer in Olathe, Kansas. I have a pretty good chance of making it, but, at this point, it's looking like I will be flying across the Atlantic Ocean solo to get there. Which Mom is very much not thrilled with. I don't think she'll crush my dreams and refuse to let me go, though. But we'll see what happens.

   And otherwise, we have my mom's grandparents and aunt coming next Thursday, and we're going to be crazy hectic busy the two and a half weeks they're here, with trips planned all over the peninsula. I'm.... not completely thrilled, as we've already done a good deal of what we're going to take them to see, but there's not a lot to be done, so.

   I'm not sure what my posting schedule is going to look like between grandparents, travelling, schoolwork, starting the whole move, prayerful Workshops, and so on and so forth, but I will attempt to get something up every now and again.

   I've had a lot of inquiries as to whether or not I intend to continue with my Sean and Lindsey scrawl and I've always said I didn't think there'd be anything more for them, but they've had other ideas. I haven't gotten anything written down yet, but there's been movement in my head, so I shall attempt to see about sitting and getting it down one of these days.

   And.... I believe that's about it for the moment. I got a fair deal done with my two weeks offline; not as much as I would've liked, but it went pretty well, so. Hopefully I'll figure out how to balance schoolwork and computer from here on out, especially with only three weeks left to our school year.

   As always, thanks for reading. You all are awesome.

   Ad astra per aspera.
   To the stars, through difficulties.