JUST A LITTLE PECK (A TRENTLEY AND JYNNIA STORY)

Hey everyone! It's that time again: time for another Trentley and Jynnia story!

This month's featured fairy tale at The Fairy Tale Central is Sleeping Beauty! I was super excited to see them focusing on one of the bigger fairy tales, because though y'all know I've LOVED getting to know some obscure stories, I've been waiting for the big ones to start trickling in.

So, as usual, Arielle gave us another fantastic writing prompt on her blog Intuitive Writing Guide, and here it is!

I quite like this installment, if I do say so myself. It was tons of fun to write, and it's also the first time we're in the POV of one of the new additions: our princely brothers, Ali, Houssain, and Ahmed. I also decided that since the theme is Sleeping Beauty, I would introduce a new character, who's actually in Once Upon, my full-length Trentley and Jynnia book. In the book she has a bit of involvement with the Sleeping Beauty herself, but I'll say no more. Enjoy. ;D

Here's the previous story, if you missed it: Giants, Brothers, and Weasels

USUAL DISCLAIMER: These stories are written purely for fun, and if you read them all straight through you'd probably notice tons of inconsistencies and continuity errors. That's fine. Also, although they're about the same characters, these stories aren't attached to my novel about Trentley and Jynnia in any way. Like I said, just for fun!

JUST A LITTLE PECK

 "I sure am glad to be rid of that pest." Ahmed shook his head with disdain as they passed through the gates of Herek's kingdom and back out into the forest.
 "Yeah, I just hope he doesn't get cursed again anytime soon," Jynnia scoffed.

 Ahmed glanced down at her from atop his horse and smiled. "You're sure you don't want to ride?"
 "I'm sure. Thank you." Jynnia glanced over at Trentley, who looked a tad irritated but mostly amused as he walked beside her. Ahmed avoided his gaze.
 "So now it's on to the search for the jewels, yes?" Ali said. "Now that we've dumped off the baggage, it's time to look for a little magic."
 "Yup," Jynnia said. "Although I have to admit, most of the time it seems to find us rather than the other way around."
 Houssain stopped his horse and held up a hand. "Does anyone hear that?"
 They all stopped to listen. A faint, musical sound floated on the air. "What is that?" Jynnia whispered in wonder.
 "Somebody playing an instrument?" Trentley peered through the trees.
 "It doesn't sound like an instrument," Ali said. "It sounds like-"
 Jynnia gasped and pointed. "Look!"
 All eyes followed her finger, which pointed through the trees at a small person in the distance,  faintly illuminated and... flying.
 "What is that?" Jynnia whispered again.
 "It's a fairy," Ahmed said. "Haven't you ever heard of fairies?"
 "Of course I've heard of them, but I've never seen one!" Jynnia's wide eyes were fixed on the ethereal creature. She was flitting about here and there, her wings shedding glittering dust as she went. The closer she came, the louder the music grew. Ahmed smiled. He never tired of hearing the delicate music fairies made naturally when they flew.
 "Let's go say hi to her." Jynnia's voice rose as she sprinted forward.
 The fairy jerked her head up and came to a stop, hovering in the air.
 "Jynnia, I wouldn't-" Houssain warned.
 "Hey!" Jynnia said, darting forward through the brush. "We want to introduce ourselves!"
 Trentley followed her hesitantly. "Jynnia, I don't think she wants to-"
 The fairy gave a little shriek. Holding her up hand, she revealed a wand and waved it in a panic.
 "Jynnia!" Trentley shouted again, running forward and grabbing her shoulder.
 A glowing stream of glitter shot from the wand straight toward them with a quiet hiss. It hit them, exploding into the air like fireworks on impact, and they collapsed.
 The three brothers immediately dismounted their horses and ran over to Trentley and Jynnia, shouting their names.
 Ahmed reached them first. He looked up as he dropped to his knees beside Jynnia. The fairy was gone, leaving only a faint trail of glittering dust behind her.
 "Coward!" he yelled. Way to go. How manly of you, yelling at a fairy.
 "Are they all right?" Houssain and Ali joined him as he gently rolled Jynnia over onto her back.
 Her eyes were closed, but she looked peaceful. Almost as if she were... sleeping.
 Houssain moved Trentley to a more comfortable position. "A sleeping spell," he said. Ahmed glanced over to see that Trentley wore the same calm expression that Jynnia did.
 Ahmed looked down at Jynnia. She was breathing perfectly normally. It really did look as if she were just slumbering in her bed. "There's only one thing to do." He looked at Houssain and Ali with wide eyes.
 "Oh, brother," Houssain muttered, turning his head as if it hurt to look at him.
 "Are you kidding me, Ahmed?" Ali said. "You're going to kiss her?"
 "Well, yeah." Ahmed gave a small, hollow laugh. "I mean, we have to save her, right? And everyone knows that's the quickest way to break a sleeping spell."
 "You're right, we do have to save her. Here, let me." Ali took a step toward her.
 "No!" Ahmed leaned to block his view of her and held his hands up.
 Ali grinned.
 "I've got this," Ahmed said. His hands started to shake as he turned around. "I'll just... give her a little peck and there you have it, she'll wake up."
 "Okay, great, so which one of us has to kiss Trentley?" Houssain said.
 Ahmed rolled his eyes. "Once Jynnia's awake, she can do it." Unless my kiss makes her fall so madly in love with me that she doesn't want to.
 "Are you sure you should do this, Ahmed?" Houssain said. "With Trentley lying right there in front of you? Do you really think Trentley or Jynnia would want this?"
 "Someone has to do it!" Ahmed said defensively.
 He leaned over her, gulping. He didn't realize he was hesitating until Ali said,
 "What's the matter, never kissed a girl before?"
 Ahmed frowned at him. "No, it's just that she's..."
 "What?"
 Ali's mocking tone was making Ahmed want to punch him in the face.
 "Sleeping."
 "Oh. Yeah, I didn't realize. Thanks for the information."
 "Okay, why are you being like this?" Ahmed plopped down on his rear and looked at Ali like a pouting child.
 "Because I'm your big brother."
 "If you don't hurry up and wake her, I'm going to make Ali kiss Trentley so he can do it," Houssain said.
 Ali looked at him in alarm.
 "Okay." Ahmed shifted to face Jynnia again, taking a deep breath. He leaned down. He could swear he heard music.
 "She's coming back!" Ali said suddenly, startling Ahmed out of his trance. Jynnia? He hadn't even kissed her yet!
 But a quick glance up revealed the fairy, flying slowly but steadily toward them. Oh. So that's the music. Ahmed was a little disappointed he hadn't been having the magical moment he had thought.
 "Hello," Ali called, raising an arm in greeting.
 "Hello," the fairy replied. She stopped and hovered a safe distance away, crossing her arms. "I'm afraid I overreacted and put your friends in a sleeping spell."
 "We noticed," Ahmed huffed, throwing his hands in the air.
 "Could you kindly wake them up before my brother loses his senses or does something he'll regret?" Houssain requested.
 The fairy raised an eyebrow but didn't question him. "Of course." She flitted over Trentley and Jynnia and pulled her wand out, seemingly from nowhere. She waved it a bit, and the musical dust grew louder as it spiraled down from the wand over Trentley and Jynnia.
 Ahmed scooted back to avoid the dust. (What effect would an anti-sleeping spell have on someone who was awake?) Trentley and Jynnia began to stir.
 They sat up sleepily, rubbing their eyes. Jynnia blinked a few times. "What happened?" She then noticed the fairy a few feet away and gasped. "You!"
 The fairy frowned and backed away, but Jynnia said, "No, wait! It's so great to meet you! I've never met a fairy before. What's your name?" She scrambled to her feet as she talked, dusting herself off. The fact that she had been under a sleeping spell didn't seem to faze her.
 Ahmed caught Trentley's eye as he stood up, and quickly looked away. It felt as if Trentley could look right into his mind and see him about to kiss Jynnia. And although Trentley was quiet and mild-mannered, Ahmed had a feeling he would not be happy to find out that another guy had tried to lay a liplock on his girlfriend.
 "Winlie," the fairy said, relaxing.
 "It's so nice to meet you, Winlie!"
 Ahmed smiled at Jynnia's excitement. She is so adorable. Still, he had to point out, "Even though she just put a sleeping spell on you?"
 Winlie glared at him.
 "Well, she didn't mean to," Jynnia said. "I mean, she did, but, you know. I understand."
 "Thanks for waking us up," Trentley said, picking a leaf out of his hair.
 Jynnia nodded. She stared at Winlie for a few moments with a big grin on her face. "Did I mention I've never met a fairy before?"
 The corner of Winlie's mouth lifted ever so slightly. "Yeah, I think you did." She gave a quick little shake of her hand, and her wand disappeared. "Well, I really have to be going now. I don't like hanging around too close to the kingdom, you know." She nodded behind them.
 "Oh." Jynnia deflated. "You mean you can't join us for a while? We're just-"
 "Oh, no, I really should be getting back to my cottage," Winlie said again, waving a hand. "But thank you. It was nice meeting all of you, too." She nodded at Ahmed, Houssain, and Ali.
 Ahmed scowled. Yes. This had been such a lovely experience. So lovely.
 He was so busy sulking, he almost didn't even notice Winlie flying away.  "Ahmed? Are you all right?" Jynnia asked.
 He came back to the present and cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah. Sorry. I guess some of the fairy dust got on me and put me in a daze." That was stupid.
 "Well, you better snap out of it. You wouldn't want to kiss anything- er, miss anything." Ali grinned.
 Ahmed shot him a glare that he wished could actually kill.
 Then Trentley shot him a glare that was so suspicious Ahmed could practically see it dripping venom.
 "Um..." Jynnia cleared her throat. "So, has anybody seen any new jewels, or what?" 

OOPS THINGS JUST GOT AWKWARD. And the funny thing is, does Jynnia even know why it's awkward? Does Trentley? xD I don't even know to be honest  I'm honestly so chaotic

ANYWAY I hope you all enjoyed this installment of The Adventures of Trentley and Jynnia! I always have so much fun tying the prompts into the stories (and by that I mean coming up with a story completely around the prompt because I have absolutely no inkling of what the story will be until I see the prompt hehehe). And can you believe it's been over a year since I started doing these?? Wow. o.o

Hope you all have a lovely Father's Day weekend, and I'll see you next week! *gives out parting cookies*

SO! Do we feel sorry for Ahmed, or do we want to put him in timeout? (it could go either way, honestly) What do you think of Winlie? And do you think Trentley knows what Ahmed (almost) did? xD

SLEEPLESS IN A CASTLE (The Twelve Dancing Princesses flash fiction!)

Well hello there.

You may have noticed I didn't post last week. This is because I am extremely undisciplined I had this story planned but Thursday came and I... ahem... hadn't written it yet. I HATE skipping posts unannounced, but I'd hate even more posting something that was rushed and less than my best.

Buuut most of you guys are bloggers, so I really don't have to explain myself to you. Sometimes you've just got to take a little break. *shrugs*

Anyway! All that aside, guess what today is? Time for another Trentley and Jynnia story! :D

This month's prompt from Intuitive Writing Guide is based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses, October's featured fairy tale at The Fairy Tale Central! And honestly? I HAD NEVER READ THIS STORY BEFORE. At least, not recently enough to remember ANYTHING about it. But after reading it, I totally understand why I've seen people saying it's one of their favorite fairy tales! The underground world, the trees, the castle-- it's all just SO COOL! Also, there are apparently a bunch of retelllings of this one?? Like, maybe not as many as there are for, say, Cinderella, but more than I would have expected for what I would have considered such an obscure fairy tale. So now not only do I need to read ALL those retellings, but I really want to write my own full-length retelling too? Hey, maybe a future Trentley and Jynnia book. ;)

A quick shoutout to Fairy Tale Central for introducing me to this fairy tale! Their whole purpose is to celebrate and share appreciation for all fairy tales, and I've already found a couple new favorites 

through them. Keep it up, ladies!

Anyway! A quick disclaimer: This story's a mess. xD From here on out I'm going to try to make them a bit more consistent with each other, just so I can build on the background and details I need to lay down for their book series (which, if you didn't know, I'm starting for NaNo this year). There are still definitely loose ends; like, why in the world are ALL  of these jewels coming specifically to Trentley and Jynnia? Why did finding the jewel in this one RESOLVE everything, while in the other ones they actually CAUSED all the trouble? It's ridiculous. xD But like I've said before, these stories are mainly for fun. Experimentation, if you will. All the stories are connected, but you might see some different aspects as I play with what I want to weave into the full-length stories. And I can't wait to flesh these stories out and make books out of them!

(also, I want to quickly say that I'm aware the princesses in the original story weren't FORCED to dance; but the line I included about that was intentional, since Jynnia didn't know how the original story went.)

Okay, well, I've been talking for a LONG time. Let's just share the prompt and get into the story, shall we? (featuring possibly the worst title for one of these stories yet)

(which can be followed by any of these options:)

    SLEEPLESS IN A CASTLE

 "May I have this dance?"
Trentley bowed and held his hand out, and Jynnia giggled. She bowed too, even though the etiquette was atrocious, and took his hand. "Of course, my handsome man." Trentley pulled her close and they began to step lightly down the hallway. Leave it to Trentley to make something so simple as seeing her to her room before he left, fun. She was very glad she had invited him over to have dinner with her and her family.
 At her door, the dance stopped, and Jynnia gave a melancholy sigh. She was sad the dance was over but so happy that she had shared it with Trentley.
 Trentley put his hands on her shoulders and gently kissed her forehead. "Good night, Jynnia," he said. "I love you."
 "I love you too." She smiled and squeezed his hand before turning to open her door.
 When the door closed, Trentley turned and began walking back down the hallway. He would say good night and thank you to Jynnia's lovely parents as he went out, as well as those of her siblings that were still awake. He was thinking about kind her family was when he heard a short scream come from her room.
 Stopping abruptly, he turned and looked at her closed door. Something to be concerned about, or perhaps merely a spider? Jynnia screamed again, and Trentley bolted for the door.
 He knocked but then immediately opened it, realizing too late that he should have waited for her to answer.
 But Jynnia was standing there, looking exactly as she had a few moments ago, except for her pale face. She stared at something. Upon opening up the door a little wider, Trentley saw that Jynnia's bed had sunk into the floor, revealing a trap door with a staircase leading down to who-knows-where.
 "Oh my," Trentley said. "That's... not good."
 "What fairytale even is this?" Jynnia cried. No jewel had made an appearance yet, but of course given recent events, what else could it be?
 "I have no idea. But there must be a jewel down there!" Trentley said. "We have to find it!"
 Jynnia groaned. "Just one night. Can't we sleep for one night and forget all this?"
 Trentley gave a short laugh. "If only sleep actually let us forget."
 And so the two of them descended the eerie stairs-- praying that Jynnia's parents would not come in to find that the two of them had disappeared together through a trap door in her bedroom.
 The staircase led them down through a forest, and they found themselves walking through tree limbs. The leaves were the most peculiar-- silver, stunning, glittering. Jynnia breathed out. "This is beautiful," she said. "How have I not heard of this fairytale before?"
 They reached the ground then, and before them there were more trees-- not just of silver, but of gold and even diamonds. "These trees seem familiar," Trentley said. "I think I've read this fairytale before, but I don't remember anything else about it."
 "I wish I had," Jynnia said. "This place is breathtaking. And... if I had read it, I'd know what to expect next."
 "Maybe we should get in one of those boats," he said, pointing. Jynnia turned in the direction he pointed, toward a sparkling lake with at least a dozen boats resting up against the shore.
 "Okay. Why not." They went to the boats and claimed one. Trentley shivered. It was cool here, but not cold enough to cause shivers; it was the spooky silence and emptiness that caused goosebumps. He felt that someone or something could jump out at him at any time. He only hoped that nothing would come from the side of the lake that led back to Jynnia's bedroom, therefore blocking their escape.
 "This is weird," Jynnia said, echoing his thoughts. "I don't think I like this."
 "It's so beautiful, though," Trentley said. "At least there's that."
 "Yeah, but everything before only happened to us. This time we're actually going into, like... I don't know, a magical land or something. I feel like we're asking for trouble."
 Trentley had nothing to say. All they could do was to keep going. After all, they had decided to find all the jewels and they would have to take some risks in order to accomplish that goal.
 They sat mostly silent as Trentley rowed them across the lake, enjoying the unsettling yet breathtaking scenery. "Oh my," Jynnia said suddenly. Trentley woke from his trance and looked where Jynnia was looking, and saw an entire castle up ahead.
 "Oh my goodness," Jynnia said. "There's a castle under my bed."
 When they reached the shore, Trentley let Jynnia out first, then got out and pulled the boat up on the ground so it would not float away. What a predicament that would be.
 "I suppose we should go into the castle now," Jynnia said, her voice shaking ever so slightly. She glanced back over the lake, and Trentley followed her gaze. The other shore was but a sliver in the distance.
 They walked through the unlocked castle doors, straight into a giant, empty ballroom. "Whoa," Jynnia breathed, even her quiet words echoing off the vast walls. "This is amazing. But why are we here?"
 Trentley admired the huge crystal chandelier above them, lit though it seemed nobody had previously been here to enjoy it. "I'm sure something will happen soo-" Trentley's words were cut off as he suddenly felt himself pulled to Jynnia. Their hands locked together of their own accord, and they began to dance.
 "Trentley!" Jynnia exclaimed scoldingly.
 "It's not me!" Trentley cried. They stepped and glided on the floor, unable to stop.
 "Well, I'd say this is what happened in the fairytale," Jynnia sighed. She rolled her eyes, and Trentley had to hold back a laugh at the casual reaction to this very unusual situation.
 They danced and danced, and talked for a while about what they could possibly do. But once they had been dancing for twenty minutes or so they found that the more they talked, the more breathless they grew. And since they had no idea when they would stop dancing, they figured it would be smart to save their breath.
 Another hour passed. They had never danced so much in their lives, and certainly not without a break. "I don't know how much longer I can do this," Jynnia huffed. Trentley tried not for the first time to release her hands from his, but it was as if they were glued together.
 "There's got to be something we can do," he said breathlessly. "The jewel! We have to find the jewel!"
 "Yes!" Jynnia said. "Look everywhere. It must be in here."
 They did not have to worry about missing their steps as they looked around the ballroom, as their feet knew where to go without their direction.
 Feeling rather silly, they surveyed the room as they danced, welcoming the distraction from their utter exhaustion. Trentley saw tears coming to Jynnia's eyes, and the sight of her discomfort combined with his own weariness made him feel a pang of emotion, too.
 Jynnia tripped. A small well of hope sprung up in Trentley's heart; if she tripped, that must mean she could move willingly, right? But she immediately stood up straight again and resumed the dance.
 "My shoes!" she said. "They're falling apart!"
 Trentley glanced down at her feet. Indeed, the sole of one of her shoes had come undone and was flapping against the floor. That was what had tripped her.
 They looked around for at least another ten minutes. What were they up to now, an hour and a half of dancing? Maybe a little more?
 "There!" Jynnia cried.
 Trentley turned to see what she saw, but he could move only his head and so had to wait for the dance to aim him in the right direction to see it. When he spun around, he saw something at the edge of the room, twinkling in the light from the chandelier. "That's it!" he said. "We have to get over to it!"
 "Oh no," Jynnia said. "How are we going to do that? We didn't think of that!"
 "We can do it," Trentley said. "Just try."
 They began using all their strength-- which was not much by now-- to will themselves in the direction of the jewel.
 "We can't do it!" Jynnia cried. "We're going to die like this!"
 The calm, casual Jynnia from a couple of hours ago was gone. Trentley knew she was only being dramatic, but still he longed to rescue her from this dire situation. "We can do it," he said. "Just focus on nothing but getting over to that jewel." They spun. "Don't think about stopping the dance, just embrace it and steer it over there."
 He could see the effort in Jynnia's face, and her cheeks, already red from exhaustion, turned even brighter. But then the fear disappeared and he saw determination take its place. There was his Jynnia.
 A few moments later, it was as if their efforts combined, and they were effortlessly sweeping in the direction of the jewel. "Yes!" Trentley said. "We're doing it!"
 "What are we going to do when we get there?" Jynnia asked, her voice suddenly taking on a flat tone as she realized that getting there was only the first step.
 "We'll figure something out."
 In no time they reached the jewel. Trentley willed his foot to perform a flourish in the dance, and as it swung out he kicked the jewel out into the middle of the floor. Then they danced back toward it.
 "I'm going to dip you," he said. "Grab the jewel!"
 They swept up alongside the jewel, and Trentley dipped Jynnia low to the floor. She stretched out her arm and grabbed the jewel, holding it tight in her fist.
 Trentley helped her stand up straight again, and he could actually feel the enchantment melting away. Starting from the top of his head and flowing to his feet, Trentley felt his free will returning. As soon as it hit the floor, they both collapsed.
 A few moments of silence passed, and then they started breathlessly laughing. "Oh my goodness," Jynnia panted, resting the back of her hand on her sweaty forehead. "That was the worst thing I've ever experienced in my life."
 Trentley took deep breaths, the full extent of his exhaustion just catching up with him. "But we got the jewel," he said. "Another one down."
 "How many more fairytales are there, anyway?" Jynnia groaned, and they laughed again.
 They sat up. "It must have been buried under my house somehow," she said. "Let's get it out of here and in a safe place."
 "Right. Let's go." They found the strengh to run out of the castle and to their boat. They rowed to the other shore with not a word.
 "I kind of hate the idea of losing this place, though," Jynnia said as they made their way to the staircase again.
 Trentley looked up. As they walked through the trees, he broke off three branches; one of diamond, one of gold, and one of silver. "Here," he said. "If they survive in our world, you have some souvenirs."
 Jynnia smiled. "Thanks." 

   

And there you have it! I'm SO excited to be writing these guys for NaNo. (Which starts in SIX. DAYS. GUYYYYS. HELP.) And I had an unbelievably pleasant surprise, too; so, I work five days a week. I'm always off on Thursdays and Sundays. I never get another day off unless I request off, or a VERY rare occasion when I just randomly get scheduled an extra day. Like I said, VERY rare. Like, maybe once a year.

Anyway, I went to work one day this week and saw that I was scheduled off on a Friday. My first thought was to maybe switch shifts with somebody so I could have a day off throughout the week and get the weekend pay for working Friday; but then I realized: THAT'S THE FIRST DAY OF NANO! You guys, I'll have ALL DAY November 1st to get kickstarted on my story! I can even join the insanity and stay up until midnight the night before!

I'm probably way more excited about this than I should be. But any unexpected day off from work is welcomed. xD And since I was anticipating being at work all day on the 1st... I'm just really happy, okay?

Anyway. (How many times in one post can Emily say "anyway"?) I will stop talking now because I'm pretty sure I've talked more in this post than in any other post. So, I hope you enjoyed the story, and keep going strong with Preptober!

Have you ever read The Twelve Dancing Princesses before? (It's pretty awesome, isn't it?) What's your favorite lesser-known fairy tale? And for those of you who are doing NaNo, how's Preptober going?? Are you prepared? Or are you like me, six days away from November 1 and still NOT READY???