I'm Likely To Redraft The First Chapter; However, I'm Just As Likely To Erase It Completely. I Don't

I'm likely to redraft the first chapter; however, I'm just as likely to erase it completely. I don't actually have any idea whether it's worthwhile.

A first chapter should introduce the protagonist and set the stage for the rest of the story. But the reality is that, the first chapter takes places a couple hours before the inciting incident, with chapter 2 skipping to right after.

Elijah is (initially unknowingly) saved by his mother, hence the chapter title "Goodnight Elijah."

The story involves uncovering what happened. The inciting incident is that Elijah's people (the Wilsics) have been exterminated.

We don't introduce Hayden (second trio member) until chapter 2: "that's a friend," and Xander is teased in chapter 3: "for girls."

Trio De Hearts: Dust & Ashes

Sample from: Chapter One

Story by @ayaisokay (main blog)

A trio of unlikely friends embark toward neighbouring lands, hoping to find answers about the attacks against a warrior clan native to their land. While united with differences, will they find more similarities than expected?

The following sample is being redrafted, this will soon be outdated

"I'm not gonna lose to you again!" Elijah told his cousin, rushing past Tiago as he tossed a thick ball of snow at his head. Tiago stumbled, but he wasn't beaten just yet. He had longer legs that came down hard with a loud crunch against the snow.

Elijah was much smaller still; but he wasn't above finding ways to compensate for his shortcomings.

"There's more where that came from." He warned the older boy with a ghastly grin, scooping up more snow and balling it up in his stiffening hands. He turned back and found that Tiago was already gaining on him once more.

"Try it again, you little cheat." Tiago warned him, working to close the gap. He'd have probably managed it if he wasn't being pelted the entire time. The first strike scarcely missed his knee, the second strike, to his hip, almost sent him face first into leafless trees, but the third was better. Another headshot. Tiago was left struggling for footing after tripping on a rock he'd missed while temporarily blinded. He went down, lightly enough to roll and resume running fast, though he'd still wasted enough time for Elijah to create a large gap.

Yelling and making all manner of noise, the cousins soon found themselves breaking free of the forest's trees and into a short stretch of open plains.

Almost every blade of grass had been concealed in a thick layer of snow. Luckily, the cut out path remained illustrated by horse-tracks and their prior steps.

The boys had been at the race for 12 minutes already— this was the returning and final lap. They'd undergone this race countless times, but their return was always a test of their stamina— and yet, unyielding against his depleting reserves of energy, Elijah pushed on where he would often falter. Tiago wouldn't give up either. With two winters more growth, his strides made up for lost time— he was rapidly closing the gap between himself and Elijah.

They’d traversed roughly 2.4 kilometres already— there was barely 800 metres left to run.

Committed and at their limits, the rivals quartered the remaining distance in about a minute and a half. But, they’d fallen into silence. Only the sound of faint pants and the soft thud of snow crushed underfoot escaped them. Neither dared to utter a word, as they advanced onward, adorning the path with frantic steps.

Determined as he was, Elijah could only maintain his leading position for about a minute longer.

In the short stretch of plains, Tiago was unstoppable— Elijah had no branches or roots to help slow Tiago to his pace.

He passed Elijah with a grin, making sure to tilt his head back so that his rival could see it.

Unphased, Elijah stared dead ahead. The family estate was in sight, just 200 metres ahead. His objective: the well. It was visible through the open gate. He'd make it there first, he told himself, pushing to keep going, much to his aching legs' displeasure.

He'd noticed something his opponent had not. His legs just had to hold out long enough to take the advantage. "You're forgetting to keep your eyes forward," Elijah thought to himself, with a smirk forming on his face.

In close to 30 seconds, Tiago passed the village's gate first, triumphantly pumping his fist. Anticipating victory as the well sat just 20 metres away, he began to yell and cheer. "You're gonna lose ag—" he started, only to stumble on the latest coat of ice while Elijah slid past him. He'd happily embraced the opening, dropping to his knees and letting physics take control. For the first time, he attained victory against Tiago.

"Again?" He asked, "I wouldn't count on it." The proud boy exclaimed, taking his seat at the well.

"No way you won. You're as slow as a blind scribe writing lore." Lyra claimed, yelling from her house opposite the well. She was a meek girl with the voice of a Lion and the kind of attitude that would get boys into trouble.

"Leave him be," Tiago told the girl between breaths, tossing a snowball as he rose. Prepared, she dodged it quite effortlessly, surprising Elijah who watched as he caught his breath. "I'll be back to winning tomorrow." He claimed, tossing a second snowball bounding toward a red faced Elijah.

The hit almost knocked him into the well, but he couldn't help but giggle. "Yeah, if I freeze to death in there," he proposed to Tiago, who dragged himself over to take a seat at his side.

I started a JP blog :3

🙏　こんにちは、みなー　(⁠^⁠.⁠_⁠.⁠^⁠)⁠ﾉ

はじめましてー　👋

🐈　名前って文実ちゃん　「アヤミ」、

私は、作家であり21歳イギリス人です　💫

🇬🇧　英語を話せるが日本語を学んでいる　🇯🇵

📚　漫画を読むのが好きだよー　❤️

🙇‍♀️　猫を飼いたいなー　🐈

仲良くしてねー　🥹

Google Play search for E-Play free music software

I'll have you know I use FL Studio, thankyou 🥀🖤

Like the photography? ❤️ (P.S. my walk playlist)

I took a walk to enjoy nature and it was honestly nice 😌

With all this despair, my alter human but needed it 🥲

I guess lately, I've just been enjoying the whole nature child vibe 🥀

But in a way I guess it makes sense. As much as I've at times avoided them, I prefer animals to people 🐈

That being said, I didn't get home and expect to find a wasp casually crawling about my neck 💀

Maybe I'm too in touch with nature 😅

Tragic therian matters 😭

No worries. I just wanted to ensure I'm not connected to anything illegal. That aside, your vents will usually be fine if you give the necessary trigger warnings and such. Anyways, @notayamichan is kinda like my main, but in Japanese. I was hoping to attract some JP interactions for practice :3

Block don't report? For what?

文実です

tbh i saw other people in the jirai tumblr space w it in there bios/pinned posts, so i thought i should add it just in case considering i do post a ton of vents ~ even though they arent triggering (at least i dont think so)

also thank you for the follow :3 i actually found ur main blog first but i thought it was cool you have a study blog as well, and for jp

I do wonder what people are listening to... Here are some of my recent playlists :3