The Betrayal

He leaped over the fallen tree and followed his elder brother as they ran swiftly through the forestland in the moonlight. He smiled as he ran. They carried good news back to their besieged camp.

Their town had been peaceful till the enemy attacked. The battle had been raging strong for weeks, with neither side accepting defeat. All able men from his town were sent to battle armed. The brothers had been eager to join. But they were disallowed as they were still young.  

Upon their insistence they were assigned reconnaissance duties. They were ideally suited for this mission anyway. They had grown up in these woods and knew it better than anyone in the town. Their efforts had paid off today. They had discovered the enemy’s storage supplies and routes which was vital information.

The enemy appeared out of nowhere. There were thirty heavily armed people. Within seconds the brothers were captured and tied up. His brother was roughly pulled to their leader who demanded they lead them to their hidden base. Otherwise they both were promised a slow and painful death.

He knew his brother very well. He also knew his end had come, thus. There was no way his brother would divulge anything to the enemy. This realization strangely did not affect him. Instead a strange calm descended. He awaited his inevitable death.

But what followed completely shattered this. His brother instantly agreed to lead the enemy voluntarily, if they were both let go after. A deep rage rose in him and for the first time he truly hated his brother. He was aware his brother knew the enemy would not keep their promise. But in his current state, there was nothing he could do.

The enemy realizing that he had no intention to co-operate tied him to the horse which carried additional weaponry. He burrowed his face in the horse’s mane, to hide his tears of his brother’s cowardice and betrayal.

The elder brother led the group through the forest. They were traveling faster than before now. The horse was almost at a full gallop. He vowed to strike down his brother the first chance he got.

It was then he smelled it faintly. It was only the years of exploring this place that he could detect it. He was thankful of his gag for the first time.

He knew that the smell could only be the toxic gas that hung low above the deep marsh.

The enemy was thundering through a poisonous marshland without their knowledge. The horse which was at the end, realized it too late; started thrashing in vain.

He could not hold his breath in any longer. His head was spinning and his sight unfocussed.

Next thing he knew, he was pulled off the horse and hefted onto a very familiar back. He blearily watched his brother also pull a flame thrower from the horse.

The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness were flames.

Flames burning purple.

He smiled again.

The Tunnel

The man awoke. He could not remember falling asleep. The only vague memories he had were of a fight, a flight of steps, a ledge and drowsiness. Everything else was fuzzy.

He looked around. It was late night. He was on a high ledge in a long, dark tunnel. A naked yellow lamp shed a dim glow of light in the distance.

Somehow he felt different. Good different. Except for a slight numbness in his throat, a few bruises on his limbs, he had never before felt more alive or alert.

He sensed her before she even came into his sight. Her delicate perfume and the smell of her hair filled his nostrils with a heady aroma. He could hear the soft musical sound of her footsteps and quite surely, the rustle of the wind through the folds of her dress.

He was suddenly acutely aware of his own heartbeat.

The light from the lamp caught her. He inhaled sharply. She was exquisite. Her hair softly rose and fell onto her shoulders with her every step. The sight was so mesmerizing that he stared transfixed.

It was only then that he became aware of the other man behind the pillar. The discovery had taken this long as all his senses had been captivated by the vision in front of him. Just as the other man started to move, the light of the lamp caught the hilt of the dagger in his hand.

The glint of light spurred his enthralled body into action. Without any conscious thought, he leapt from the ledge; landed on the ground cat-like and rushed between them before either had moved two feet.

The swiftness of these actions took all of them completely by surprise. The mugger was the first to recover and within the blink of an eye, arched and threw his dagger.

The man, still operating on auto-pilot, ducked instinctively. He closed the distance between them and struck out once. And just like that, the fight was over.

He slowly turned around. On its way past him, the dodged dagger had made a slight graze on the girl’s cheek. They were suffused with a dark pink color now. She stood there motionless, wide-eyed with trembling lips.

His senses went into overdrive. His heart threatened to burst a hole through his chest. He felt a deep heat rise to his head. He eyes saw red. He could no longer breathe. The only thing he knew for sure was that remaining there any longer would make his rescue completely meaningless.

He turned and bolted blindly. A seedy bar was the closest building. He stumbled into the nearest stool. The bartender, dexterously wiping glasses, didn’t even look up when he asked:

‘Blood or wine?’

The man did not reply. He did not need to.

The bartender took one look at the bite marks on the man’s throat, reached for the nearest bottle of blood, and pushed it across.

The label read on the bottle read – ‘For Vampires Only’.

I Write Like

Neil Gaiman.
At least the last two short stories, it seems.

And before that I used to write like Raymond Charles, William Gibson and Stephen King - in that order.

And all that listing stuff - purely ripped off from Cory Doctorow and Isaac Asimov

:P

PS: http://iwl.me/ (for those who did not follow the link above)

Top 50 Foreign Films

The top 50 foreign language movies that I have seen, which were released after 1985, are these:
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1. Cidade de Deus - City of God (2002). Portuguese
2. Das Leben der Anderen - The lives of others (2006). German
3. El Secreto de sus ojos - The secret of their eyes (2009). Spanish
4. La vita è bella - Life is beautiful (1997). Italian
5. Amores Perros - Love's a bitch (2000). Spanish
6. Krótki film o milosci - A short film about love (1988). Portuguese
7. Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain - Amelie (2001). French
8. Okurubito - Departures (2008). Japanese
9. Un Prophete - A prophet (2009). Arabic
10. La haine - The Hate (1995). French.
    
11. Oldboy - Old Boy (2003). Korean
12. Festen - The Celebration (1998). Danish
13. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi - Spirited away (2001). Japanese
14. Låt den rätte komma in - Let the right one in (2008). Swedish.
15. Le scaphandre et le papillon - Driving bell and the butterfly (2007). French
    
16. Mar Adentro - The Sea Inside (2004). Spanish
17. Nicija zemlja - No Man's land (2001). Bosnian
18. Bacheha-Ye aseman. Children of heaven (1997). Persian
19. Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003). Korean
20. Chung Hing sam lam - Chungking Express (1994). Cantonese
21. Lola rennt - Run Lola Run (1998). German
22. Wo hu cang long - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Mandarin
23. Madeo - Mother (2009). Korean
24. Diarios de motocicleta - The Motorcycle Diaries (2004). Spanish
25. Batoru rowaiaru - Battle Royale (2000). Japanese
26. Lilja 4-ever - Lilya 4-ever (2002). Swedish
27. 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile - 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days (2007). Romanian
28. Tôkyô sonata - Tokyo Sonata (2008). Japanese
29. Entre les murs - The Class (2008). French
30. Volver - To Return (2006). Spanish
31. Kolja - Kolya (1996). Czech
32. Linda Linda Linda (2005). Japanese
33. Shi mian mai fu - The house of the flying daggers (2004). Mandarin
34. Die Fälscher - The Counterfeiters (2007). German
35. El paraíso ahora - Paradise Now (2005). Arabic
36. Revanche (2008). German/Russian
37. Mies vailla menneisyyttä - The man without a past (2002). Finnish
38. Tenten - Adrift in Tokyo (2007). Japanese
39. La Misa Luna - Under the Same Moon (2007). Spanish
40. 13 Tzameti (2005). French
41. Malena (2000). Italian/Sicilian
42. Irréversible (2002). French/Spanish
43. Ao no hono-o - The blue light (2003). Japanese
44. Maison do himiko - La maison de Himiko (2005). Japanese
45. Yeopgijeogin geunyeo - My sassy girl (2001). Korean
    
46. Mogari no mori - The Mourning Forest (2007). Japanese
47. Chi to hone - Blood and bones (2004). Japanese
48. Scrap Heaven (2005). Japanese
49. Bakwji - Thirst (2009). Korean
50. Gwoemul - The host (2001). Korean
    

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PS: The list is populated only with the movies whose names I could remember. And of those only those worth getting listed.
PPS: At least one component of the genre of most movies here is 'Drama'.
PPPS: Since rating every movie individually seemed a huge exercise, the list is arranged such that the real good movies are on top.

Top Manga and Anime - Take Two

Repopulating this earlier list of top anime and manga.
Here be the latest ordering:

1. One Piece [Manga + Anime]
2. Berserk [Manga + Anime]
3. Bleach [Manga + Anime]
4. Naruto [Manga + Anime]
5. Death Note [Anime]
6. Full Metal Alchemist [Manga + Anime]
7. Lone Wolf and Cub [Manga]
8. Monster [Anime]
9. Samurai X: Rurouni Kenshin [Anime]
10. Code Geass R1: Lelouch of the Rebellion [Anime]
11. Code Geass : Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 [Anime]
12. Gintama [Anime]
13. Black Lagoon [Anime]
14. Black Lagoon 2: The Second Barrage [Anime]
15. Ubel Blatt [Manga]
16. Vagabond [Manga]
17. Detective School Q [Anime]
18. Trigun [Anime]
19. Cowboy Bebop [Anime]
20. Kenichi [Anime]
21. Gun X Sword [Anime]
22. Nodame Cantabile [Anime]
23. Gantz [Manga]
24. Eden [Manga]
25. Akira [Manga]
26. Nodame Cantabile Paris [Anime]
27. Seirei No Moribito [Anime]
28. Fruits Basket [Anime]
29. Hunter x Hunter [Anime]
30. Avatar [Anime]
31. Zero No Tsukaima [Anime]
32. Zero no Tsukaima: Futatsuki no Kishi [Anime]
33. Fate Stay Night [Anime]
34. Elfen Lied [Manga + Anime]
35. Melody of Oblivion [Anime]
36. Macross Zero [Anime]
37. Hellsing [Anime]
38. Samurai Deeper Kyo [Anime]
39. Full Metal Panic [Anime]
40. Busou Renkin [Anime]
41. Blame! [Manga]
42. Bitter Virgin [Manga]
43. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei [Anime]
44. Serial Experiments Lain [Anime]
45. Afro Samurai [Anime]

In the list:
Underlined ones are continuing, and still going good and strong.
Bold ones are new additions to the list.

Special Mention:
Watchmen - [English/Comics] - would have tied with Rank 7 in the list above.

Along the way while cooking up this list, came across these titles too:

• Full Metal Alchemist - Brotherhood
• Claymore
• Hajime No Ippo
• Samurai Champloo
• 20th Century Boys

Any of these worth watching?

Random:
Black Lagoon - Third Season is confirmed.
\m/

'Hello', he lied

For about a week now, a majority of the daytime has been spent in documenting stuff already done, stuff that needs to be done, and the way to do the stuff. Since I have been creative writing for days on end, and also as this blog is somehow turning out to be a place where I report what I have watched in the recent remember-able past, herewith lies one more in the same vein:

In reverse chronological order, here goes:
[Start date - 19/4/2010]
1. Saw Eddie Izzard's - 'Definite Article' (1996) because of a comment about this post - Top Stand Up Comedians - in Buzz. This dude will make the top 15 in the list. Easily. Had forgotten how good he was since the last stand up bit I'd seen of him was years and years ago.

2. Watched 'Like Totally' and 'Melbourne International Comedy Festival' by Dylan Moran. Added respect for the dude. Bumping this guy two places up in the original Top Stand Up Comedians list. One of the few guys who do not re-use 90% of their material from their first show in all their acts.

3. Watched the latest episodes of One Piece. This still remains as the best anime on the Top Anime list. Eiichiro Oda has still a God status. Berserk is up 50% or so from last week too. Mostly because I realized that Kentaro Miura has restarted drawing Berserk, after a long hiatus where he up and left to professionally learn to play Guitar Hero.

4. Watched the whole series of - The Wire - which according to Wikipedia "has been described by critics as the greatest television series ever made". And I must say, it is worth every single decimal point in the 9.7 rating in IMDB.

5. Discovered that the DVD release of FRIENDS has some decent amount of un-aired footage in every episode. And this realization after having watched the aired version over four times completely. /facepalm

6. A bunch of decent movies - will try to make a honest post out of this.

7. Briefly tried to continue watching Samurai Deeper Kyo. Still does not seem to show any more promise than the usual action anime.

8. IPL. On and off.

9. Simulation Waveforms. In VCS by Synopsys.
[End date - 19/3/2010]

Action Items:
a. Re-populate this anime list.
b. Do something about Point 6.

Random information:
Presently listening to - 'Breath of Life' by Shamindra from the Album: Secrets Of Zen - "Japanese Chill Out" Volume.1

Guess with the picture added and all this post may be of a decent length by now.
/kthxbai

The Hillock

The man climbed the rocky hillock. The air was cool all around him. He had been climbing for a long while now but did not feel the slightest bit tired. His mind felt fresh and clear, as it did every time he walked up this place.

As he climbed, he looked at the picturesque town nestling at the bottom. The lake next to it and the greenery at the distance all looked straight out of a scene from a postcard. He had come to this town a few years ago. And had never regretted the move. The bright and lively town looked quaint and delicate from where he was now. The lake right next to it looked impossibly clear and blue.

He walked slowly taking the whole scene in. There still was some way to the top, but he was in no real hurry. He loved this stretch. He felt more alive here. As if all his senses had been amplified. He felt sure if he concentrated hard enough he could hear the pleasant buzz of the town all the way from the bottom. He could make out the color on each feather of the bird that was flying in lazy circles above him. He breathed the clean mountain air and continued his way to the top.

He felt a cold draft of wind on the back of his neck which made him turn and look up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the bird freeze in mid air.

He felt a distant rumble under his feet then. Several things seemed to happen all at once. The leaves of the solitary tree in the distance stopped fluttering in the wind as though they had been turned off. He felt a sudden chill in the air. The bird started to fly away rapidly. Unthinkingly, he turned his head a fraction to follow its movements.

That was when he became aware of the big rock that was hurtling towards him. It was so out of the blue, that he was completely stunned. He stared at the rock transfixed as it generated more momentum and thundered downwards. As it loomed closer, he felt unable to even avert his eyes.

He cringed. At the last moment, the boulder hit a small out cropping, deviated a bit from its original path and crashed loudly just about two feet away from him, carrying a part of the rocky path along, as it rolled further down along the hillock.

The man had never had a near death experience before. The shock was still too much for him to completely appreciate his good fortune. He continued to watch the rapid descent of the rolling boulder almost involuntarily. He watched it wide eyed as it crashed and displaced a group of huge rocks, a short distance below him. And these in turn, gathered more stones and rubble as they tumbled downwards. Horrified, he saw a rocky landslide form right before his eyes.

He remembered the town suddenly. It was directly in the path of the land slide.

The scene that followed was something out of a nightmare. The magnitude of destruction of the town was enormous. The group of rocks which had been displaced caused the most damage. He could very realistically feel the angst and pain of the townspeople. He could almost hear their screams. The din and clamor was deafening in his ears. The scene was just too much to take in.

Within a few seconds, a huge cloud of raised dust blocked his view. There was a lull that followed. He shut his eyes tightly as if to block the scene from his eyes. After what seemed like a long time, he opened his eyes.

He could not believe what he saw.

The scene in front of him was as picturesque as it was before. The town was nestling safely next to the blue lake. The bird was still lazily circling in front of him. He could once again make out all the color on its feathers.

This time, the man laughed out loud in sheer relief. He realized that he had not breathed in a while now. He gulped in large amounts of air and sighed as he slowly felt his nerves calm. He wiped the tears blinding his eyes and gazed at the town with new-found fondness.

After a while, he turned, looked at the unbroken path in front of him and debated whether to continue his climb.

He felt a cold draft of wind at the back of this neck. The bird froze in mid air.

The man rapidly walked forward two feet. And then stopped.

He felt a distant tremor under his feet. He looked up just as he felt a chill in the air. He caught one last glance of the bird before it rapidly flew away. He smiled.

A tall pedestal stands there on the hillock today. The structure has been built entirely by the huge boulder that crashed into the lake. The townspeople call it ‘The Shrine of the Savior’.