NaNoWriMo Day 16
Nov. 17th, 2009 02:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wolfanficsCurrent mood: Tired
Current music: The Whale - ELO
Progress: Rewrote the second scene from day 12; added moar scenes to chapter seven. :D Also, watched too many Wizzard videos on youtube. XD Lead singer = Roy Wood = Ulysses, who was supposed to be an original character, but now apparently isn't. Fail. XD
Word Count: 33,924/50,000
Characters: generally behaving, though Craig is sulking about his female body. I'm not letting him wear pretty clothes, thus he is sulking. XD
Anyway. It's very late and I should go to bed. So here, one rewritten scene from day 12, and one scene from chapter 7 that continues on from yesterday's writingz. :D
Chapter Five
Gatecrashing isn't pretty either
The end of the canal led into what looked like a giant scrap heap. It loomed above them like some sort of twisted building, and its form as an actual deliberately built structure became more apparent as they approached. The canal fed into the structure, and a large sluice gate opened as they approached to let them in. After a short tunnel, they came to stop at a wharf, and the inside of the giant scrap heap was not what they expected at all.
While the outside of the structure resembled a twisted wreck of metal, the inside was completely different. The inner part of the walls resembled that of old castles, with ladders and raised walkways and places to defend from. What might have at first appeared as a giant scrap heap might just be some sort of strange castle after all. The buildings inside the walls seemed normal enough, though their materials varied from what might normally be used to construct housing. They were, however, laid out in a haphazard manner, and there was no clear path from one to another. There appeared to be a number of what looked like giant shields, apparently to protect from airborne attacks, though it seemed odd that anyone would want to attack them.
As they disembarked, they gazed around at the buildings and Otis couldn't help wondering who might live there and why. There was certainly no call for Royalists in their brief, and if the city had somehow got itself divided, then they most definitely were not in the right universe. Still, there was no going back until they were collected, so there was nothing to do but see where this might end up.
"Well, now, I can't imagine whoever lives here is going to be too thrilled we snuck in here uninvited. I hope you've got a good explanation handy, Otis. I do believe this was your idea," Charlie said.
Otis scuffed his shoes against the floor, hands shoved deep into his jacket pockets, as he thought about what to do next. "I'm thinking, okay?"
"Better think quick. They don't exactly look friendly," Nelson said.
Otis looked up to see what Nelson had seen. It appeared the inhabitants of the scrap heap had come to see who had intruded and whether they were spies. They came creeping out from behind bits of metal and pipes, from behind strange piles of waste and makeshift houses. A few carried pistols. Some carried knives and swords. Otis glanced around, apparently unconcerned by their presence. There was no obvious way out. There was no guarantee the gate would open again to let them out, and it was entirely possible the inhabitants would just swarm the boat if they tried anyway.
"Well, it's not like we got any weapons. We can't hardly fight them off," Otis said.
A woman with a particularly nasty-looking sword approached. "Looking fer a fight, hey?"
"Nah, we're not fighters. Just travellers. We play music, that's all," Otis said, arms up in surrender.
The gesture was apparently enough to set the men off, and it was only the appearance of another boat into the small harbour that turned everyone's attention from the four intruders and the men who were about to grab them. Otis was only half-surprised to see their old friends Clancey and Augustus running from the boat towards them.
"They nicked our boat," Augustus said, drawing his pistol. He pointed it at the four of them indiscriminantly, not at all pleased by what had happened.
"You were gonna nick our guitars," Otis countered.
"Bloody Royalists. Probably spies, hey? What are you doing in here?" Augustus said, closing in on Otis in particular.
Otis didn't exactly appreciate having a pistol shoved in his face, but he was too stubborn to show his fear. "Exploring. You got a problem with that? We're not Royalists either. Who might you be and where are we?"
"Yer in Dissenter country. If yer looking for yer King to save you, yer out of luck. We got every right to kill yer," Augustus said.
Otis decided to change tactics. Ignorance might work if nothing else did. "We've got a Queen, actually. Well, the time we come from, we've got a Queen. 'least Nelson and me got a Queen. Can't say the same about them two," Otis said, gesturing to Charlie and Lucky.
"Where you lot from then? You sound like you belong here. Therefore you should know who the King is," Clancey said, joining Augustus.
"Shall I tell 'em, lads? Dunno if they'd believe us if I did though. Besides, I never said I didn't know who the King was," Otis said.
"Well, I hate to sound selfish at a time like this, but I wasn't planning on getting killed right now," Charlie said. "Bloody English and their royalty. This is why we fought for independence."
Clancey crinkled his nose in disgust as Charlie spoke. "Yer brought Americans with yer? Well, yer either a genius or a fool. No Royalist would ever be seen dead in the company of Americans. P'raps they ain't Royalists after all."
"Hey, Lucky, I do believe we've just been insulted," Charlie said curiously.
Lucky shrugged and glanced at Charlie. "You're sayin' that like it's something new."
"Look 'ere, we're just travellers. We don't want any trouble. I did tell you we weren't Royalists," Otis said.
"If you didn't want no trouble, you shoulda left them Americans back where they came from. Bloody traitors. Mad King George'd have their heads if he knew they was here. Americans ain't been welcome since we lost. Might as well be sworn enemies now," Clancey said.
Charlie wandered over to Clancey and peered down at him. He was a slender lad, with a mess of brown hair and grubby clothes. Looked like he needed a few hamburgers. Charlie wondered what would happen if he dared to hurt the boy. He probably wouldn't, but there was a small part of him that wanted to piss off the English, just to see what might happen.
"What might yer be looking at?" Clancey said, not appreciating the scrutiny.
"Oh, nothing. We are getting out of here, aren't we, Otis? I mean, I'd hate to be a nag and all," Charlie said, biting his tongue.
"I'm not really bothered where we end up. We've got work to do elsewhere, and if they're finally convinced we're not fighting against them, maybe they'll let us go," Otis said pointedly.
Jalyn had been watching the proceedings from the back, Ulysses by his side. Seeing Ulysses twice in a week was a bit much. Perhaps something big was about to happen after all. Jalyn eyed the strangers with fear, suspicion and excitement. They were not just ordinary travellers, Jalyn was sure of that. Had God finally delivered an advantage into their hands?
"If they leave Shard End, we'll never see them again, and you can kiss goodbye to that plan of ours. We need 'em. Go on, go convince them to stay," Ulysses murmured to Jalyn.
"You know what those two are like. They'll call for their heads if I let them stay," Jalyn said, referring to Augustus and Clancey, who were still holding the four travellers at gun point.
"The Fates work in strange ways. I seen it, Jay. I seen what they can do. We need 'em," Ulysses said.
"Well, you do have a habit of only turning up when something big's going down, so perhaps yer right," Jalyn said.
"Go on, before Clancey shoots his brains out," Ulysses said, pushing Jalyn forward.
Taking the hint, Jalyn approached, slowly making his way through the crowd. Augustus and Clancey stepped back to let him through when they saw him coming. Jalyn was unofficlally the camp's leader, and most saw fit to trust his word and his judgement. Jalyn watched the four travellers and circled around them, observing them and their strange clothes and belongings. He had never seen such things before. They looked different, bigger, more well-fed. And their clothes were made from material he could not identify. He had guessed the strange shaped cases contained guitars. He knew enough about musical instruments to know that. He considered his words before he spoke.
"What's in them cases? How did you get here? They might all think yer some sort of spies, but I know different. Yer not from around here, yer from somewhere else. Maybe from the future. Why'd you come here?" Jalyn said.
"Nice to see you've got one smart boy amongst yer," Otis said. "We come from the future, yeah. And that's how we carry our guitars."
"I think you might be rather valuable to us. I hope you'll forgive the earlier hostilities," Jalyn said, his mind made up.
"Well, I'm hoping this is the right place, cos if it ain't, we're both screwed. What are yer calling this ... place that we're in," Otis said.
"Shard End. And it's our eastern fortress. We hold another camp on the western side of town. We control the canals. It ain't much, but it has led to a nice little seige we've been holding on them. But we've got bigger plans. We're tired of the division, of our people starving for no reason other than their religious beliefs. Word is the King's coming to town for the music festival. We got a plan to gatecrash it and force him to give us our rights. This has gone on long enough, and the old mad King never wanted to help us neither. So we gotta take measures into our own hands," Jalyn said.
"Aww, I'm chuffed yer called it Shard End. So, if yer plan's so awesome, what do yer need us for?" Otis said.
"We need yer knowledge. You know about music in the future. Help us build the instruments we need," Ulysses said, stepping forward out of the crowd and the shadow to stand beside Jalyn.
"Woody, man, is that you? What are you doing here?" Otis said, recognising the magician standing before him.
"We'll talk later," Ulysses said curtly.
"You know him? Is he from our world?" Nelson said.
"Oh, I know him alright. Wondered where he'd gone off too all them years ago. Yes, Roy, we will talk later and you'll tell me exactly what yer doing here," Otis said.
Jalyn remained silent, watching the two men. He wasn't entirely sure how to take this information. It was certainly intriguing to learn that the apparent leader of this band of travelling minstrels from the future happened to know Ulysses. He would have to talk to Ulysses later and find out for himself who he really was.
"So, er, we right to stay then?" Otis said, interrupting Jalyn's thoughts.
"I insist on yer staying. No complaints from anyone, mind, we've got work to do. Come on, I'll show you where you can sleep," Jalyn said.
Clancey and Augustus were about to protest but thought better of it. Augustus turned to Clancey and whacked him across the head again. "Shut it, will you? If Jalyn says it's okay, then we'd best let it slide. Now come on, let's go see if the boat's okay."
Otis watched them slink off back to their boat before following Jalyn through the camp. Ulysses had, for some reason, disappeared. Otis would track him down, whatever it took. No one just randomly turns up, especially not Roy Wood masquerading as a magician in Birmingham in 1822 in some sort of strange parallel universe, without getting away with it.
Chapter Seven
Funny seeing you here again part deux
After a day spent talking instruments and compositions and magic, Otis managed to escape after dinner in order to track Ulysses down. Having acquired directions to his cottage in the forest, he set off. He was hoping he could talk to him in private, away from everyone else. When he eventually found the hut, he was almost unsurprised by the state it was in.
It was a simple cottage built in a clearing. Nothing strange about that. It was, however, surrounded by a very odd collection of instruments, one of which looked suspiciously like a proper electric guitar. Of the other instruments he recognised, there was what looked like an ordinary violin, a clarinet, and a harp. The rest were not readily identifiable. There was also a large stack of metal pipes, though their use was unclear.
There was no garden. There was the hut, and there were the things leaning against the hut. Otis figured he didn't have many guests. The chimney was bent at a strange angle and emitted bright yellow smoke. The rest of the hut looked fairly normal. Just as Otis was about to approach the door, Ulysses appeared from the forest, carrying a load of firewood.
"Oh. Yer here. Well, better come in then," Ulysses said.
Otis followed him inside and noticed the cottage was far from normal. He hadn't noticed his strangely coloured hair; his hair being strange colours was something he was already used to. No, the cottage was truly spectacular. The paintings on the wall of various landscapes appeared to emit sounds as you looked at them. There were no internal walls, and the bed against one wall was plain except for a carved gargoyle atop each corner of the bed head. There was a rug on the floor that was made from two completely different rugs. One half looked like a Persian style hall runner, while the other half could have been Aztec or South American or something. The rest of the furniture appeared to be handmade and Otis was not entirely sure what to make of it. Otis particularly noticed a set of chimes on the small wooden side table that appeared to be playing God Save The Queen.
"Don't mind the chimes. They got stuck. Won't play anything else," Ulysses said. "Take a seat. I'll make some tea."
Otis declined an offer of a seat. He wasn't sure they wouldn't bite him or something. "So, Roy, what might you be doing here after all these years? Since when've you been calling yourself Ulysses?"
Ulysses paused and turned to face him. "I can't even remember now. It seemed like a good idea, but I got caught up in it all and now I can't go back. Speaking of which, since when could you travel through time with yer mates?"
"Well, I weren't expecting to find you. I reckon we were 'sposed to be elsewhere. Not here. Not in this universe. Something drew us here. I'd like to know what that is," Otis said.
"Jeff, look, none of this was my doing. I get here as a kid, right? And somehow I get sent to magic school. What did you expect me to do? I learnt magic and when I joined them Dissenters, they didn't seem to mind that I wanted a place to myself in the woods. Somewhere I could experiment. Trying to find a way home. Never succeeded. Time travel magic is stupendously difficult in this world and I''m nowhere near mastering it. Until I do, I'm stuck here. Found some new uses for them instruments though. I created a whole new field of music magic. I'm like some genius now," Ulysses said.
"I did notice the electric guitar out front. Bit advanced for this world, isn't it?" Otis said.
"There's a lot here that's too advanced for this world. Only reason I can think of is that magic accelerated progress. Or it did til the town tore itself in two. I'm surprised it's lasted as long as it has. Three decades is a long time to have a siege like this. I lived through them riots. For some reason, I don't seem to age here. But I remember them. So many people died. They blew up the factories, you see? Burnt 'em to the ground while there were still people inside. Shard End was the only factory site where people didn't die. Coincidentally there was a strike that day and no one was working, so they alone survived. And then, of course, the mob went after the Dissenters. 'Cept they saw them coming and raised their own Army. And so we ended up with this stalemate. It's all a bit stupid if you ask me," Ulysses said.
"I had noticed that, yeah. Man, that is rough though. No wonder the place looks like it's fallen into ruin. It's kinda sad to see it like this," Otis said.
"I hope yer going to help me out with this plan. Remember when we used to work together? We were great back then. I hope there's still some magic left because I need yer spark, mate. I can't think of what to do," Ulysses said.
"Aye? Since when have you been short of inspiration?" Otis said.
"Since I've been here too long without you. I never did want to leave, you know, but fate forced my hand. Sorry if I hurt ya," Ulysses said.
"Water under the bridge, man. Let's see if we can't come up with something then, y'know, like the old days," Otis said.
The space between them had somehow shrunk. Otis could feel Ulysses' hand resting on his arm. Otis smiled down at him. Ulysses grabbed his shirt collar and kissed him. Otis wasn't sure he could hide behind his pseudonym anymore, at least with him. Ulysses' hand moved to his shoulder, and he deepened the kiss, just like he always used to do. Otis wrapped his arms around his waist and lifted him up a little, trying to eliminate the height difference.
The tea was forgotten. Everything was forgotten as Ulysses took his hand and led him to his bed, which grew to accommodate the two of them as they lay together in each other's arms.
"I haven't felt anyone else's touch since I came here. I didn't realise how much I missed it," Ulysses said.
"Nah, you'll be right. I'm here now. I'll take care of you," Otis said. "Can't quite get over the hair though."
"Ehh, it's what happens when magic screws up. Which it does a lot. It's also why there's yellow smoke coming from the chimney. Just how things work here, it seems," Ulysses said.
"Well, by all means, tell me all about it," Otis said.
Ulysses smiled. It was comforting having someone who he didn't have to hide in front of. And, hey, if Jeff could time travel, maybe he could help him get back home. Things were looking up, most definitely so.
AND NOW TO BED. SINCE IT IS AFTER HALF PAST TWO IN THE SODDING MORNING. D:
Current music: The Whale - ELO
Progress: Rewrote the second scene from day 12; added moar scenes to chapter seven. :D Also, watched too many Wizzard videos on youtube. XD Lead singer = Roy Wood = Ulysses, who was supposed to be an original character, but now apparently isn't. Fail. XD
Word Count: 33,924/50,000
Characters: generally behaving, though Craig is sulking about his female body. I'm not letting him wear pretty clothes, thus he is sulking. XD
Anyway. It's very late and I should go to bed. So here, one rewritten scene from day 12, and one scene from chapter 7 that continues on from yesterday's writingz. :D
Chapter Five
Gatecrashing isn't pretty either
The end of the canal led into what looked like a giant scrap heap. It loomed above them like some sort of twisted building, and its form as an actual deliberately built structure became more apparent as they approached. The canal fed into the structure, and a large sluice gate opened as they approached to let them in. After a short tunnel, they came to stop at a wharf, and the inside of the giant scrap heap was not what they expected at all.
While the outside of the structure resembled a twisted wreck of metal, the inside was completely different. The inner part of the walls resembled that of old castles, with ladders and raised walkways and places to defend from. What might have at first appeared as a giant scrap heap might just be some sort of strange castle after all. The buildings inside the walls seemed normal enough, though their materials varied from what might normally be used to construct housing. They were, however, laid out in a haphazard manner, and there was no clear path from one to another. There appeared to be a number of what looked like giant shields, apparently to protect from airborne attacks, though it seemed odd that anyone would want to attack them.
As they disembarked, they gazed around at the buildings and Otis couldn't help wondering who might live there and why. There was certainly no call for Royalists in their brief, and if the city had somehow got itself divided, then they most definitely were not in the right universe. Still, there was no going back until they were collected, so there was nothing to do but see where this might end up.
"Well, now, I can't imagine whoever lives here is going to be too thrilled we snuck in here uninvited. I hope you've got a good explanation handy, Otis. I do believe this was your idea," Charlie said.
Otis scuffed his shoes against the floor, hands shoved deep into his jacket pockets, as he thought about what to do next. "I'm thinking, okay?"
"Better think quick. They don't exactly look friendly," Nelson said.
Otis looked up to see what Nelson had seen. It appeared the inhabitants of the scrap heap had come to see who had intruded and whether they were spies. They came creeping out from behind bits of metal and pipes, from behind strange piles of waste and makeshift houses. A few carried pistols. Some carried knives and swords. Otis glanced around, apparently unconcerned by their presence. There was no obvious way out. There was no guarantee the gate would open again to let them out, and it was entirely possible the inhabitants would just swarm the boat if they tried anyway.
"Well, it's not like we got any weapons. We can't hardly fight them off," Otis said.
A woman with a particularly nasty-looking sword approached. "Looking fer a fight, hey?"
"Nah, we're not fighters. Just travellers. We play music, that's all," Otis said, arms up in surrender.
The gesture was apparently enough to set the men off, and it was only the appearance of another boat into the small harbour that turned everyone's attention from the four intruders and the men who were about to grab them. Otis was only half-surprised to see their old friends Clancey and Augustus running from the boat towards them.
"They nicked our boat," Augustus said, drawing his pistol. He pointed it at the four of them indiscriminantly, not at all pleased by what had happened.
"You were gonna nick our guitars," Otis countered.
"Bloody Royalists. Probably spies, hey? What are you doing in here?" Augustus said, closing in on Otis in particular.
Otis didn't exactly appreciate having a pistol shoved in his face, but he was too stubborn to show his fear. "Exploring. You got a problem with that? We're not Royalists either. Who might you be and where are we?"
"Yer in Dissenter country. If yer looking for yer King to save you, yer out of luck. We got every right to kill yer," Augustus said.
Otis decided to change tactics. Ignorance might work if nothing else did. "We've got a Queen, actually. Well, the time we come from, we've got a Queen. 'least Nelson and me got a Queen. Can't say the same about them two," Otis said, gesturing to Charlie and Lucky.
"Where you lot from then? You sound like you belong here. Therefore you should know who the King is," Clancey said, joining Augustus.
"Shall I tell 'em, lads? Dunno if they'd believe us if I did though. Besides, I never said I didn't know who the King was," Otis said.
"Well, I hate to sound selfish at a time like this, but I wasn't planning on getting killed right now," Charlie said. "Bloody English and their royalty. This is why we fought for independence."
Clancey crinkled his nose in disgust as Charlie spoke. "Yer brought Americans with yer? Well, yer either a genius or a fool. No Royalist would ever be seen dead in the company of Americans. P'raps they ain't Royalists after all."
"Hey, Lucky, I do believe we've just been insulted," Charlie said curiously.
Lucky shrugged and glanced at Charlie. "You're sayin' that like it's something new."
"Look 'ere, we're just travellers. We don't want any trouble. I did tell you we weren't Royalists," Otis said.
"If you didn't want no trouble, you shoulda left them Americans back where they came from. Bloody traitors. Mad King George'd have their heads if he knew they was here. Americans ain't been welcome since we lost. Might as well be sworn enemies now," Clancey said.
Charlie wandered over to Clancey and peered down at him. He was a slender lad, with a mess of brown hair and grubby clothes. Looked like he needed a few hamburgers. Charlie wondered what would happen if he dared to hurt the boy. He probably wouldn't, but there was a small part of him that wanted to piss off the English, just to see what might happen.
"What might yer be looking at?" Clancey said, not appreciating the scrutiny.
"Oh, nothing. We are getting out of here, aren't we, Otis? I mean, I'd hate to be a nag and all," Charlie said, biting his tongue.
"I'm not really bothered where we end up. We've got work to do elsewhere, and if they're finally convinced we're not fighting against them, maybe they'll let us go," Otis said pointedly.
Jalyn had been watching the proceedings from the back, Ulysses by his side. Seeing Ulysses twice in a week was a bit much. Perhaps something big was about to happen after all. Jalyn eyed the strangers with fear, suspicion and excitement. They were not just ordinary travellers, Jalyn was sure of that. Had God finally delivered an advantage into their hands?
"If they leave Shard End, we'll never see them again, and you can kiss goodbye to that plan of ours. We need 'em. Go on, go convince them to stay," Ulysses murmured to Jalyn.
"You know what those two are like. They'll call for their heads if I let them stay," Jalyn said, referring to Augustus and Clancey, who were still holding the four travellers at gun point.
"The Fates work in strange ways. I seen it, Jay. I seen what they can do. We need 'em," Ulysses said.
"Well, you do have a habit of only turning up when something big's going down, so perhaps yer right," Jalyn said.
"Go on, before Clancey shoots his brains out," Ulysses said, pushing Jalyn forward.
Taking the hint, Jalyn approached, slowly making his way through the crowd. Augustus and Clancey stepped back to let him through when they saw him coming. Jalyn was unofficlally the camp's leader, and most saw fit to trust his word and his judgement. Jalyn watched the four travellers and circled around them, observing them and their strange clothes and belongings. He had never seen such things before. They looked different, bigger, more well-fed. And their clothes were made from material he could not identify. He had guessed the strange shaped cases contained guitars. He knew enough about musical instruments to know that. He considered his words before he spoke.
"What's in them cases? How did you get here? They might all think yer some sort of spies, but I know different. Yer not from around here, yer from somewhere else. Maybe from the future. Why'd you come here?" Jalyn said.
"Nice to see you've got one smart boy amongst yer," Otis said. "We come from the future, yeah. And that's how we carry our guitars."
"I think you might be rather valuable to us. I hope you'll forgive the earlier hostilities," Jalyn said, his mind made up.
"Well, I'm hoping this is the right place, cos if it ain't, we're both screwed. What are yer calling this ... place that we're in," Otis said.
"Shard End. And it's our eastern fortress. We hold another camp on the western side of town. We control the canals. It ain't much, but it has led to a nice little seige we've been holding on them. But we've got bigger plans. We're tired of the division, of our people starving for no reason other than their religious beliefs. Word is the King's coming to town for the music festival. We got a plan to gatecrash it and force him to give us our rights. This has gone on long enough, and the old mad King never wanted to help us neither. So we gotta take measures into our own hands," Jalyn said.
"Aww, I'm chuffed yer called it Shard End. So, if yer plan's so awesome, what do yer need us for?" Otis said.
"We need yer knowledge. You know about music in the future. Help us build the instruments we need," Ulysses said, stepping forward out of the crowd and the shadow to stand beside Jalyn.
"Woody, man, is that you? What are you doing here?" Otis said, recognising the magician standing before him.
"We'll talk later," Ulysses said curtly.
"You know him? Is he from our world?" Nelson said.
"Oh, I know him alright. Wondered where he'd gone off too all them years ago. Yes, Roy, we will talk later and you'll tell me exactly what yer doing here," Otis said.
Jalyn remained silent, watching the two men. He wasn't entirely sure how to take this information. It was certainly intriguing to learn that the apparent leader of this band of travelling minstrels from the future happened to know Ulysses. He would have to talk to Ulysses later and find out for himself who he really was.
"So, er, we right to stay then?" Otis said, interrupting Jalyn's thoughts.
"I insist on yer staying. No complaints from anyone, mind, we've got work to do. Come on, I'll show you where you can sleep," Jalyn said.
Clancey and Augustus were about to protest but thought better of it. Augustus turned to Clancey and whacked him across the head again. "Shut it, will you? If Jalyn says it's okay, then we'd best let it slide. Now come on, let's go see if the boat's okay."
Otis watched them slink off back to their boat before following Jalyn through the camp. Ulysses had, for some reason, disappeared. Otis would track him down, whatever it took. No one just randomly turns up, especially not Roy Wood masquerading as a magician in Birmingham in 1822 in some sort of strange parallel universe, without getting away with it.
Chapter Seven
Funny seeing you here again part deux
After a day spent talking instruments and compositions and magic, Otis managed to escape after dinner in order to track Ulysses down. Having acquired directions to his cottage in the forest, he set off. He was hoping he could talk to him in private, away from everyone else. When he eventually found the hut, he was almost unsurprised by the state it was in.
It was a simple cottage built in a clearing. Nothing strange about that. It was, however, surrounded by a very odd collection of instruments, one of which looked suspiciously like a proper electric guitar. Of the other instruments he recognised, there was what looked like an ordinary violin, a clarinet, and a harp. The rest were not readily identifiable. There was also a large stack of metal pipes, though their use was unclear.
There was no garden. There was the hut, and there were the things leaning against the hut. Otis figured he didn't have many guests. The chimney was bent at a strange angle and emitted bright yellow smoke. The rest of the hut looked fairly normal. Just as Otis was about to approach the door, Ulysses appeared from the forest, carrying a load of firewood.
"Oh. Yer here. Well, better come in then," Ulysses said.
Otis followed him inside and noticed the cottage was far from normal. He hadn't noticed his strangely coloured hair; his hair being strange colours was something he was already used to. No, the cottage was truly spectacular. The paintings on the wall of various landscapes appeared to emit sounds as you looked at them. There were no internal walls, and the bed against one wall was plain except for a carved gargoyle atop each corner of the bed head. There was a rug on the floor that was made from two completely different rugs. One half looked like a Persian style hall runner, while the other half could have been Aztec or South American or something. The rest of the furniture appeared to be handmade and Otis was not entirely sure what to make of it. Otis particularly noticed a set of chimes on the small wooden side table that appeared to be playing God Save The Queen.
"Don't mind the chimes. They got stuck. Won't play anything else," Ulysses said. "Take a seat. I'll make some tea."
Otis declined an offer of a seat. He wasn't sure they wouldn't bite him or something. "So, Roy, what might you be doing here after all these years? Since when've you been calling yourself Ulysses?"
Ulysses paused and turned to face him. "I can't even remember now. It seemed like a good idea, but I got caught up in it all and now I can't go back. Speaking of which, since when could you travel through time with yer mates?"
"Well, I weren't expecting to find you. I reckon we were 'sposed to be elsewhere. Not here. Not in this universe. Something drew us here. I'd like to know what that is," Otis said.
"Jeff, look, none of this was my doing. I get here as a kid, right? And somehow I get sent to magic school. What did you expect me to do? I learnt magic and when I joined them Dissenters, they didn't seem to mind that I wanted a place to myself in the woods. Somewhere I could experiment. Trying to find a way home. Never succeeded. Time travel magic is stupendously difficult in this world and I''m nowhere near mastering it. Until I do, I'm stuck here. Found some new uses for them instruments though. I created a whole new field of music magic. I'm like some genius now," Ulysses said.
"I did notice the electric guitar out front. Bit advanced for this world, isn't it?" Otis said.
"There's a lot here that's too advanced for this world. Only reason I can think of is that magic accelerated progress. Or it did til the town tore itself in two. I'm surprised it's lasted as long as it has. Three decades is a long time to have a siege like this. I lived through them riots. For some reason, I don't seem to age here. But I remember them. So many people died. They blew up the factories, you see? Burnt 'em to the ground while there were still people inside. Shard End was the only factory site where people didn't die. Coincidentally there was a strike that day and no one was working, so they alone survived. And then, of course, the mob went after the Dissenters. 'Cept they saw them coming and raised their own Army. And so we ended up with this stalemate. It's all a bit stupid if you ask me," Ulysses said.
"I had noticed that, yeah. Man, that is rough though. No wonder the place looks like it's fallen into ruin. It's kinda sad to see it like this," Otis said.
"I hope yer going to help me out with this plan. Remember when we used to work together? We were great back then. I hope there's still some magic left because I need yer spark, mate. I can't think of what to do," Ulysses said.
"Aye? Since when have you been short of inspiration?" Otis said.
"Since I've been here too long without you. I never did want to leave, you know, but fate forced my hand. Sorry if I hurt ya," Ulysses said.
"Water under the bridge, man. Let's see if we can't come up with something then, y'know, like the old days," Otis said.
The space between them had somehow shrunk. Otis could feel Ulysses' hand resting on his arm. Otis smiled down at him. Ulysses grabbed his shirt collar and kissed him. Otis wasn't sure he could hide behind his pseudonym anymore, at least with him. Ulysses' hand moved to his shoulder, and he deepened the kiss, just like he always used to do. Otis wrapped his arms around his waist and lifted him up a little, trying to eliminate the height difference.
The tea was forgotten. Everything was forgotten as Ulysses took his hand and led him to his bed, which grew to accommodate the two of them as they lay together in each other's arms.
"I haven't felt anyone else's touch since I came here. I didn't realise how much I missed it," Ulysses said.
"Nah, you'll be right. I'm here now. I'll take care of you," Otis said. "Can't quite get over the hair though."
"Ehh, it's what happens when magic screws up. Which it does a lot. It's also why there's yellow smoke coming from the chimney. Just how things work here, it seems," Ulysses said.
"Well, by all means, tell me all about it," Otis said.
Ulysses smiled. It was comforting having someone who he didn't have to hide in front of. And, hey, if Jeff could time travel, maybe he could help him get back home. Things were looking up, most definitely so.
AND NOW TO BED. SINCE IT IS AFTER HALF PAST TWO IN THE SODDING MORNING. D: