Pisky's ATS Story

wow pisky, AMAZING!! i have goosebumps!! awesome story, can't wait to see what comes next!!
edit: i like how you got your signature, into the story.

[Edited on 4/7/2004 by smilingsarah82]

Pisky,

Man your storys keep me up at night and blow me away man i cant get enought seriously. I hope im in one of these badass stories cant wait for the next one either .

Pisky, bloody brilliant. I'm glad you don't post these every night. I'd never get any sleep. Thanks, man, absolutely

I laughed, I cried, I drank cider.
Absofookingloutly marvofabulous!

What can I say ?
Have you ever considered writing a novel ?

Thanks everyone for your comments. And yes, I am seriously considering writing a novel. I wanted to write this ATS one first to get a general idea of my writing style and what needed changed. I also wanted people other than KayEm (who is biased ) to tell me what they thougt of it.

Shadowman - I'll happily put you in if you send me an U2U with a general description of yourself in it.

And for anyone else reading this, remember ...

OMG that avatar is SOOO cute !!!!
Great story too !

Chapter Nine - Lingering Memories

The rain lashed down in torrents. Inside the solar, KayEm sat listening to the howling wind screaming like a banshee and shrieking through the nooks and crannies of the castle. Occasionally a flash of lightning could be seen through the cracks around the ill-fitting mediaeval shutters, followed soon after by a thunderous roar that sounded as if Thor himself was charging through the sky in his chariot.

Arthur had been dead for almost a month now, and those who knew him still missed his larger than life character, his bellowing laugh and his crude jests. Especially Pisky, whose job it had been to save his soul from the clutches of Azrael. Fingal had explained why the pixy had had to do what he did, but no matter what the old priest said, Pisky stayed morose. Over and over he ran through his mind the events of that night. The Azraelites, Gilles de Mornay and his evil wife, the sacrifical dagger held high ready to send Arthur's soul to the demonic Azrael. He knew that there was nothing else he could have done. But it didn't mean it didn't tear his heart into shreds every time he thought of it.
One night, sitting around the table in the Hall, Pisky had finished his flagon of 'Best Pixyland', and started talking of Arthur. The rest of the contigent fell silent as the pixy told of Arthur's joviality, his strength, his honour and his loyalty. Tears shone in their eyes as Pisky recounted how he and KayEm had arrived at Camelot to see a place in chaos because of the plague. How a great bear of a man with long greying hair and bushy beard was ranting foully and waving around a massive broadsword in an attempt to restore order.
He could remember vividly Arthur's first words to them. Not 'Welcome' or 'Greetings', but a typical Arthurian 'Who the fook are you ?"
KayEm had taken over the ground floor of North Tower to turn into an infirmary, while Pisky had busied himself by hunting for various herbs that his wife required to aid those with the insidious man-made plague virus. Various other refugees from the Corporate takeover had appeared from that time on; First Loki, bringing with him a large selection of weapons, then Benjj, followed the next day by Pantha who had been on her way to Scotland when she almost fell into the hands of Corporate Militiamen and ended up in Stokesay instead.
Erisian was just the latest of a long line of people hoping to escape the Corporate New World Order and live as nature intended.

The newcomer sat at the computer screen, the glow of the monitor making her face glow with a blue tinge, while she keyed in arcane-looking codes which were unlike anything KayEm had ever seen before. Erisian stopped typing, leaned back in her chair and cracked her fingers. Her hairstyle made her look younger than she was, and many people had assumed that she was merely another naive student with no knowledge of the world. Of course, this was exactly what she wanted people to believe; Only those working in close proximity of Erisian were able to see the woman inside. Needless to say, she and KayEm had bonded instantly.
They made an interesting couple, the tall, beautiful red-haired KayEm and the small, dark-haired, almost elfin Erisian. Before the Corporate takeover, people seeing them together would have just seen them as a pair of girls out to have fun. Attractive women with little knowledge of the ways of the world, ripe for picking.
But appearances can be deceptive.

KayEm leaned back in her chair and remembered the past. How, at school in the States, she had been picked on for being 'different', for choosing her own friends irrespective of their status within the school heirarchy. Offered the choice to join the 'popular clique', she preferred to talk with people of intelligence rather than spend her time with shallow individuals who couldn't string out three words without including 'like' or 'totally' in the mix. "But you're, like, a cheerleader", said one of her 'peers', disbelief in her voice, "Why do you hang with geeks ?".
KayEm disliked her friends being talked about in such a disparaging manner; "If I didn't, I'd end up talking to myself", She had replied.
"What does that mean ?"
KayEm smiled; "Because if I spent too much time with you, the only way I'd get any intelligent conversation at all is if I talked to myself".
It had taken half an hour for the joke to sink it. From that time on, it was war.
KayEm had been tormented mercilessly, many times returning home with tears pouring down her face. But after school was over, she realised something. She realised what she was worth.

A year or so after High School, KayEm had been invited to the reunion. The popular set expected to have fun at her expense. Bubba and Barbie, the prom king and queen, were looking forward to twisting the knife yet again. Instead they were shocked and dismayed to see this beauty in red waltz into the room and put them all to shame. Those who tormented her at school were verbally taken apart with witticisms that could have come from the mind of Oscar Wilde himself. Bubba and Barbie got exactly what they deserved.
But even then she was unsure of her newfound femininity, and a year later ended up hooked to a Neanderthal drug user who took her self worth and put it through the wringer.

Eventually, after years of abuse, she dug deep into her soul and found the strength she needed to free herself. Not long after that, she met the pixy, and became her true self again.

When the Corporates took over, they were living in a two hundred year old cottage just outside Tamworth. For a while they rode out the storm but once the orders came out for all residents of the area to register for relocation, they decided to leave.
They had been to Stokesay before, back in the first year of the new Millenium, and Pisky suggested that it could well be a good place to head for. He knew from info published on the net that the plague had decimated the populace and that the area around the old Welsh Marches was seriously depopulated. It would be a safe place to live. So they had set off.

The two Corporate militiamen had been on patrol when they came across a dishevelled looking woman sitting sobbing at the side of the road. Rapidly, they had approached. The woman looked up, tears running down her cheeks. "He just left me here !!!!", she said, "He said he loved me !".
The older one of the two militia had bent down, towering over KayEm. He was mid twenties with hard blue eyes that gave her the shivers. "Come over here, Cupcake", he had said, holding out his hand, "And I'll show you what a real man can do". KayEm had reached out and grasped his hand. She let him pull her upright before running him through with her sword. "Neanderthal prick !", she had hissed as she pulled the blade out of his ribs and let him crash to the floor with a groan of amazement.
His companion was already dead with one of Pisky's arrows embedded in his chest.
KayEm had wiped the blade of her sword, staggered over to the side of the road and thrown up.

It had never got any easier.

Opening her eyes, she noticed Erisian looking over at her. She stood and walked over, leaning on the other woman's chair and trying unsuccessfully to comprehend the strange codes appearing on the screen.
"Having fun ?", KayEm asked.
Erisian turned, a smile on her face. "Not much", she said, "Just finding some proxies I can use later. I don't want to get caught again".
KayEm just nodded.
"They blame me, don't they ?", Erisian suddenly blurted out, "For what happened to Arthur".
"No", came the reply, "Arthur knew what he was doing. He knew how dangerous it was. And he knew how important you are to Camelot".
Erisian nodded her head slightly. "I just hope I'm worth it", she said, a twinge of sadness in her voice.
"You are, Angie", KayEm replied, putting her hand on the girl's shoulder. "You are".
Erisian looked up, tears in her eyes, "Thank you".

The door flew open and an utterly drenched Benjj entered, water dripping from his hunting jacket and deerstalker cap. He wiped the raindrops from his face and looked around. "Is Pisky about ?", he asked, seeing KayEm and Erisian beside the computer.
"South Tower", KayEm replied, "Why ?"
"I've just come from the gatehouse", said Benjj, taking off his hat and flicking the drops of water from it. "Tobias is already there".
KayEm looked puzzled; "So ?"
We have visitors", Benjj replied, "The Romans are coming".




[Edited on 9-4-2004 by Pisky]

sorry for not posting after the last chapter, I wanted to mention then that you totally made the story come alive with the pic of the castle. loved it

the newest chapter also an excellent piece of writing.
you better hurry up and write the next chapter, the romans are at the gate...and i want to know more.

i am so with worldwatcher on that one, i can't wait to know more! great again pisky. it is always good to know the background of the characters

Aha ! The Romans are coming.
I want more !!!!

nice one pisky, that one was getting me excited i wanted to get to the end to see what happened lol
hah the romans are comming i liek that the best part was the man who said " who the fook are you"

I plan to post the next chapter tomorrow. It will be a bit lighter than the last couple, and you'll meet some new characters too.

cant wait to meet them!!!!

Oh I'm all excited now, bring on the romans!! Forget the guns, some serious sword action gettin on down!


And nice background info, more more more please sir.

Chapter Ten - The Romans are coming, The Romans are coming !

'The story upon which I embark is one full of incident, marked with bitter fighting, rent with treason, and even in peace, sinister ...'
Tacitus - The Histories

Pisky was standing in doorway of the laboratory, watching Loki mix some foul smelling ingredients together when the drenched figure of Benjj appeared in the stairwell.
"Whose cat just died ?", he asked, wrinkling his nose at the pungeant stench issuing from a scorched looking bowl on the far bench.
"I'm trying to make teargas", came the cheery voice of Loki from inside a standard issue gasmask, before turning back to his experimentation.
"Succeeding too", was Benjj's reply, his eyes tearing up as the gas reached his eyes.
"Bugger this for a game of soldiers", said Pisky, closing the door before the gas took over the whole of the tower, "Lets get something to drink".
Benjj wiped his eyes, blinking away the last few tears; "That'll have to wait", he said as Pisky began walking down the steps, "We've got visitors".

Crossing the rain sodden courtyard, Pisky looked across at the stables where Tamsin stood drying an annoyed looking donkey with a handful of straw.
"A donkey ?", he asked as the reached the Gatehouse. Benjj just grinned.
Hurrying under the Gatehouse, Pisky took off his dripping coat, hanging it on a hook to dry before pushing the right side door open and going in.

Tobias greeted them with a grin and gestured to the two very wet, very tired-looking figures sitting shivering beside the fire. They were wrapped in warm blankets taken from the infirmary and had been supplied with hot tea which they sipped carefully.
"I thought you should be in on this", Tobias said, "seeing as she says she knows you".
"Not actually 'knows' as in 'have met'", came a cultured female voice from the far side of the fire, "More like 'am aware of', as in 'conversed with via ATS message boards'".
The taller of the two, a thirty-something woman with curly blonde hair and a rather haughty demeanour, stood and held out her hand. "I'm Helena Justina", she said, "But you can call me Helena".
Pisky took the proffered hand; "Pisky", he said.
"I know", Helena replied "I recognise you from your avatar".
Pisky grimaced and released her hand. As she turned to go back to her seat, her blanket fell from around her shoulders, revealing her rather strange garb.
Benjj, ever the gentleman, picked up the blanket and handed it back without a word, while Tobias grinned knowledgeably.
"You may wonder why I am dressed in the manner of a Roman Patrican", said Helena, gesturing to her damp red gown and equally soggy shawl. Agates on slim gold hoops dangled from her ears and her hair was held up by two combs which threatened to fall off at any moment.
The pixy considered the question. "Fancy dress?" he replied, grinning.
"Living history actually", drawled Helena, "For a TV program".
"Bloody balls up if you ask me", said Helena's companion, his voice betraying his Northern roots. "Since madam here isn't going to introduce me, I'll do it myself - I'm Jimmy ..."
"please stay in character, Marcus !", snapped Helena.
The man sighed. "We haven't got the bloody camera with us and even if we did, there's nobody left to watch the bloody film"
Helena shook her head and glared; "Our old names mean nothing to us now".
"OK OK bugger it. Anything for a quiet life". He turned towards Pisky; "I'm Marcus Vettius Valerius of the fourteenth bloody Gemina Martia Victrix"
He stood and dropped his blanket. He, too, was dressed in Roman garb, this time wearing the tunic and boots of a Legionary. Behind the newly vacated chair Pisky could just glimpse a helmet and breastplate, both of Roman make, and a scabbarded gladius shortsword.
"And if you think we look like a pair of tossers, just wait 'til you meet the rest".

By the time night fell, the storm had abated. In the Hall, room had been made for the new arrivals and they sat at the table with flagons of 'Best Pixyland' in their hands.
"I have to say", said Valerius after finishing his drink and pouring another, "That was the best food I've had for bloody ages. Much better than stuffed hamster and all the other crap they cook at Butser"
At the mention of hamster, KayEm glared evilly at the pair, then looked around for her own rodent which was currently zooming around the room in his transparent ball.
"The Romans used to eat roasted dormouse, not hamster", Helena explained; "And I know I'm all for historical accuracy, but even I'm not going to eat a mouse !"
"So what did we eat ?" asked Valerius.
"Chicken"
"That stuff didn't taste like any chicken I've ever eaten - It tasted like sh..."
"Please", Helena held up her hand, "No more of the barracks language if you don't mind". She looked around the hall. "I'm sure our hosts don't want to hear any more expletives".
"Bloody bastard fooking bollocks !!!" Loki burst into the room covered in soot and a strange yellow dust. He was cradling his left hand tenderly. "KayEm, have you got any burn ointment?"
"Let me guess", asked Pisky, "the teargas was flammable ?"
"No, thats perfect", Loki replied as he followed KayEm into the infirmary, "I'm still having a bit of a problem with the napalm though".

"So" said Tobias when KayEm and Loki had returned, "What's the story?"
Helena sipped delicately at her cider; "Do any of you remember the BBC TV show called 'Surviving the Iron Age ?".
Pisky nodded. The show had been interesting, although to Pisky's mind they made far too many concessions to the twenty-first century. Ancient celts wearing rubber Wellingtons just didn't gel with what he knew about the Iron Age.
"Well", Helena continued, "They decided to make another living history program, based in Roman Britain. Only this time they used real History buffs, people who ran living history groups themselves. They wanted this one to be as true to life as possible".
"Good idea", said Pisky, "The Iron Age show would have been much better if they had people living there who actually had a reasonable knowledge of the times".
Helena agreed; "Yes. Butser Hill was originally a recreation of a Iron Age village. In 2003 a Roman villa was added, and the program planned to show the lives of both indiginous Celts and Roman Britons. So the producers got us together, gave us what we needed, plus four video cameras and left us to it".
Helena waited as the information imparted was digested before continuing; "We were supposed to be there for three months, completely cut off from the world. Single people, families, men, women and children. It was as true-to-life as we could make it. When we first went into Butser everything was normal. When we went to leave, it was all ...", Helena closed her eyes.
Valerius put his hand on her arm and took over the description; "Because of what we knew about Roman times - hunting, farming methods and all that - we were able to eke out a decent existance. When the three months were over and the production team failed to make an appearance, a couple of us went to find out what was going on. One was taken by the corporates just outside Coventry. The other managed to pick up a few things - a wireless laptop, some batteries, a wind up radio, That kind of stuff - before coming back and telling us the bad news. Some left, hoping to regain something of their old lives. We never heard from them again. Most of us elected to stay. Our families were safer here than in the cities".

Helena had regained her composure and so continued with the story; "We knew that the Corporates would get to us eventually, and some of us hoped to reach a comprise with them when that happened. Until then, we just lived as we had been since we got to the villa. As Celts and Romans. We dressed as Celts and Romans, acted as they would have done and kept the names we had been given by the production crew".
Pisky snorted; "You hoped to reach a compromise with the corporates ?"; He shook his head in disgust.
"It was really the only chance we had", Helena replied; "Butser isn't like here", She gestured around the room. "It's virtually undefended and we have very few Legionaries. Our Legate truly believes that the Corporations will see how well we are doing, and allow us to continue. Providing that they can make a profit out of us".
"Bollocks to that", Pisky spat, "The only time they'll make a profit out of me is if they turn my rotting corpse into fertiliser and sell it to one of their farmers".
Helena looked at the pixy with cold eyes; "Working for them is still better than the alternative".
"Thats debatable".
Tobias held up his hand for silence. "So what went wrong?" He leaned forward and looked into Helena's eyes. The woman was hiding something. She was desperately worried but trying not to show it; "You had everything you needed. You even had a back-up plan for when the corporates found you. Something must have happened to make the two of you decide to risk the trip here".

"It started about two months after everything went to #", Valerius explained. "We noticed that animals, usually sheep and goats, were going missing. We thought it was robbers or one of the bandit groups that had popped up, but they normally stay just outside the cities playing Dick Turpin".
Helena ran her hand through her hair and carried on; "Then little Julia disappeared. Just went out one day to play and never came back. Her mother was frantic. One of the search party found ..." Helena started shivering visibly, then, taking a deep breath, she forced herself onwards.
"Afterwards, Julia's mother started talking about demons in the night taking her little girl. One day she grabbed a gladius and rushed off. We lost her in the woods. The next day she was found. My God, it was like some kind of Hammer Horror film !"; Helena blanched at the memory, holding her hands tightly together to keep them from shaking. "We just didn't know what to do. We started seeing strange tracks in the mud, things I'd never seen before. Even Actaeonis hadn't seen anything like those tracks.
"Actaeonis ?"
"He's the villa's hunter", Helena explained. "Actually, he was one of the Legionaries, but when we decided to revert to a full Roman life, he started using his poaching skills to hunt down food for us".
"A poacher", said Pisky, grinning. "A man after my own heart".
Helena took a drink of cider to wet her dry throat, then continued, her eyes closed as she called up the memory. "Not longer afterwards, Claudia was attacked. I saw that myself. She was walking towards the barn to milk the cows and this ... whatever ... was on the roof ! It leaped down and grabbed her. She wasn't a child, this was a full grown woman. She started screaming and struggling with it. I ran towards them, yelling at the top of my lungs. It saw me, dropped Claudia and ran away. It was so fast. We thought to hunt it down, but our only weapons are Roman ones, and that thing was ... ugh !" She shivered at the memory.

"So you came here to see if we could help?", Tobias steepled his fingers on the tabletop.
"Yes", Helena said, "We knew that we needed serious help. Before the batteries ran out, we were able to get a netline running on the laptop. It was full of the normal Corporate bull, but mixed in it was a story about Warwick being raided. Shadowman did a bit of research and worked out that the most likely place for the raiders to be based was in the Marches or around the Nuneaton/Bosworth areas. Several groups were sent to check out various possible places - old ruins, castles, monasteries etc. It was a long shot, but we had no other option. Marcus and myself were given Stokesay".
"Two questions", said Tobias, "Firstly, why did you come here for help. Why not ask the Corporates? You've already said that you hope to come to some compromise with them".
"Yes", she said, "But not all of us agree with that plan. We would just prefer to carry on without interferance. Plus, we still don't know what they will do - by going to them, we could be signing our own death warrants".
"Quite possibly", said Pisky, remembering Arthur's recent demise.
Tobias digested this piece of information before asking his second question; "Who is this Shadowman you mentioned ? - It doesn't sound like a Roman name".
"He arrived here a few weeks after we decided to make a go of Butser. No one really knows much about him. I think he was some kind of detective. Anyway, it was Shadowman who managed to get a lead on you, well, on where you were likely to be".
Tobias leaned back, nodding his head slowly. "OK", he said, steepling his fingers on the table; "Where exactly is this 'Butser' anyway ?"
"Almost two hundred bloody miles away", muttered Valerius. "Near Charlton in Hampshire".
"Bugger me !", exclaimed Pisky, "That must have been a pain in the arse of a trip".
"Actually, it was fine until we met those bloody robbing bastards in Bromfield", Valerius growled. "they took the bloody lot. Horses too. There's me standing there waving a gladius around and those three harridans just stood there laughing their heads off. Bloody sword's no use against machine guns after all". He poured another flagon of cider and drank, muttering imprecations towards those responsible for his loss - of horse and face.

"They weren't all bad", Helena interjected, "They gave me a donkey to ride after all"

lurvely jubbly! Oh I love it, 'they gave me a donkey after all...'
Can't wait to see the next instalment!

great pisky, can't wait to read the next one!!!!

Romans? Can't whait to see where this goes Pisky!

Seriously. Good stuff, keep it up.

Now time for me to get back to work on my latest chapter! What dangers will Ranger and his friends face on the road to the Adirondacks? Be sure to check out my soon to be posted chapter to find out!!!

textbook stuff pisky, a great tale and no mistake!