The North Star Project

This project is years in the making and very personal.

It’s about time I started releasing the chapters and working on them. Maybe there will be some feedback, maybe I will be more encouraged to work on future chapters, the submitted chapters have usually been edited a few times before I post them up.

I don’t write them in script format, but its the barebones and plans for comic chapters. That’s why there’s less description compared to other writings.

Raven is also a dominant character in the series. Love or hate him for who he is.

Flynn

“I once kept an eye on a young homeless lad, with a little help here and there he managed to find himself a magic ring. Little Urchin tried their best to help Flynn, but they found they could only do small things.

Their specialty was helping Flynn keep out of trouble, it was because of this that he was able to see the prince one one of the cleansed days. He found himself captivated by the beautiful man, but, he was filled with a strong sense of pity. Flynn had all the freedom he could want with little wealth, the prince had all the wealth one would ever need… but even on the days he could leave the palace, he had an armed guard following him everywhere.

Flynn was snagged a few days later by a man who claimed to be the adviser. He told Flynn that they would need an artefact of great power, it would give the prince the freedom that he deserved. Flynn was a little dubious, but, with an offer of food and a bed he decided he should just go for it.

Against his better judgement Flynn found himself inside a wondrous cave, so many things that could make him a ruler many times over… He made Urchin scout ahead and he followed their lead through the winding corridors.

It took a while, but Urchin managed to find the lamp in question. There was magic in it for certain, they both just hoped it was the right one. Flynn managed to get it to the entrance and he handed over the item, unfortunately soon after he did… Everything took a turn for the worse, the cave started to collapse on itself and Flynn was pushed back into the tunnel.”

Raven’s pipe went out for a moment. He raised a brow at it and the flame sparked back to life enough for the smoke to resume.

“Urchin was determined that Flynn’s story wouldn’t end there. They mustered what power they had, and they begged the forces of the cave to let them both go. The tunnel responded and opened for them, it held no ill will to them. The damage had been done, maybe they’d be the ones to set it right again.

Flynn, once free, managed to get close to the man that had tricked him. It seemed the lamp was more than he had thought… the whole kingdom would be at risk if things continued the way they were headed.

As requested Urchin managed to slip in and reclaim the lamp and they all escaped together. It was only after they were safe that they managed to make the genie emerge, the poor soul was baffled to see his master suddenly changing.

He soon explained the rule of three wishes to his new master, three wishes before he’s locked in the lamp and claimed again by the forces that guard him.

Flynn only took a moment before he said all three. Freedom for Urchin, freedom for the prince and the opportunity for him to find his love, freedom for the genie.

Gene was phased, but he granted the requests, he hadn’t expected such generosity. Flynn could have had anything, but he chose the happiness of others. Flynn explained that he was happier helping others. Things were hard, but he could get by as he always had done.

Urchin returned as a ball of energy to rest on Flynn’s shoulder, grateful for the gesture… but not wanting to be away.

Gene felt that he still had most of his magic and decided that he wanted to use it to help Flynn. The lad decided to be a flower merchant, in the off seasons he found he had a talent for making fans. Using flowers he had dried to decorate the various designs he came up with. He was never short of materials, both Urchin and Gene made sure of that.

The trio lived together selling flowers and making fans till the end of Flynn’s days. Gene and Urchin await him to return, they know he’s not gone forever.”

Raven smiled and looked out to the sky before gently putting his pipe down.

“Any moment now boys… You’d best get going.”

Polyon

“Now then, where to begin with young Polyon? He was born to a count, unfortunately he never really saw any benefit to that title and birthright. Especially as it was his stepmother that was rumored to have killed the count.

The authorities did nothing about it, Polyon assumed this was because they were in her back pocket. They had returned him to the house many times after he’d attempted to run away. He was willing to leave everything behind, if it would end the near servitude he lived in.

The only thing he would miss, or person, was the delivery girl who snuck a brew from the kitchen here and there when she had letters or parcels for the household.

She was the one that had told him about the ball. A celebration of the prince’s birthday or something along those lines, Togle had mentioned the king and queen being keen to get their son married off.

Polyon thought a few things over as he strode through the house to the drawing room. He handed over the invite and quite simply told them that he was going too. After all, he was eligible by birth, and he would be on the registry.

His stepmother didn’t like the idea one bit, to give him this inch could well mean she could lose everything. She challenged him, he could only go if he had an outfit suitable for the palace… She also made sure to leave very little time for him to even attempt to make the clothes himself.”

Raven shook his head, letting the montage of chores roll on and away.

“She hadn’t expected Polyon to actually manage to pull something together. Togle had managed to get a hold of an outfit that would at the very least get him through the door.

She was lucky that her children were as equally as spiteful as she and sabotaged the outfit that Polyon had tried to keep safe and well before he was to return it. He could only watch them leave as his anger seemed to boil over to tranquility.

At least for that moment anyway… He stormed outside where he could scream and shout, he kicked things and threw things… and he even woke up the Pixie of the Pond. She soon reprimanded him for the noise and disturbance before getting the full story off of him.

Polyon ended up with a nice new outfit to wear, the fabric seemed to repair and renew and he looked quite dapper in the end. He was informed that he only had till the sun rose, her power was taken from the night sky and taken by the day. He’d have some warning as the bells rung form the towers on the hour, even though it was the height of summer it would still be a long enough night.

Shouting his thanks over his shoulder he was happy to run away, he hitched up the racing buggy to the pony and he made his way to the palace. He showed the doorman his father’s crest, branded on his collarbone before he buttoned himself back up and headed inside.

Not relishing actually encountering his ‘family’ he decided to more simply have a walk around the corridors and taking his time reaching the reception rooms.

It was lucky he did in some ways, he was soon bumped into by a rather flustered young man. The stranger panicked and simply tugged Polyon with him outside and to the gardens, it was only after Polyon had shoved him off that introductions were made. They both shared a grin, they didn’t care less who the other was… they just knew they’d have more fun playing hooky for the night.

The morning bells sounded loudly and Polyon could only curse, he didn’t have long to get home before the sun would rise. Prince Ardion insisted that Polyon take his insignia, that way the man could come back and visit him another time.

Polyon barely managed to get home in time for the pixie’s power to lose its grip. He let the pony rest and took off the remains of Togle’s gift. Somehow he’d make it up to her and manage to repair it, it could just take a while.”

Raven smiled at the next montage of chores. Polyon finding time to repair the outfit between chores, and, another prominent figure leaving the castle.

“Prince Ardion became bored waiting for his friend to return, he didn’t really know why he missed him so. It was only when he was on the lookout it started to dawn on him, maybe, maybe the reason his parents said that anyone could come to the ball was… quite simply, because they didn’t expect him to be able to choose between the males or females that had attended.

He went to every household he encountered, starting at the north of the kingdom and intent on making his way from north to south across his lands. It would take him a while, but he was determined to find the man that had ‘stolen’ the prince’s crest.

It was by chance that a young delivery girl heard him enquiring at one of the homesteads, and when he reached the Count Desen’s residence she tried to get his attention. It took her flinging an apple at him before he doubled back to question her.

‘I know who you’re after, he lives here!’ Togle quickly put her hands up defensively and tried not to be too loud.

‘It’s a household full of women. How-?’ Ardion found himself being dragged around to the back of the house. Either this girl fell for his disguise, or she had no clue what the prince looked like.

‘There, by the well. If anyone’s got anything of the princes, I’m sure it’s him.’ Togle winked and ran away, she was in the middle of a shift after all.

Ardion moved to sit on the well, waiting for the young man to return for another pail. When their eyes met, he was certain he’d finally found his man. He carefully grabbed Polyon’s arm before he bolted and dropped to one knee.

‘I know we met once before… but… well… Date me?’ Ardion stood slowly and let his question sink in. He flashed a grin similar to the first one he’d shown Polyon.

‘I… to hell with it… Yes!’ Polyon grabbed his prince and kissed him, in full view of his ‘family’ too. He didn’t give a damn as he was more or less carried off and away to his pony, the prince more than happy to let him live at the castle with him while they figured everything out.

Since that day at the well… they lived together for many years in happiness. Prince Ardion was lucky that he had a younger brother, he was only half blooded… but that didn’t matter to the king as the younger became the official successor. Ardion was happy to be council for his brother, and Polyon was content to look out for the both of them. He’d never been happier to live with other people in his entire life.”

Raven tilted his head for a moment.

“I’m not forgetting about poor Togle, she actually became the next queen. Prince Saphir was interested to meet the girl he had heard so much about, he was glad he had for she was a ray of sunshine he didn’t want to do without.

She made sure to look out for her boys, declaring them both godfathers and babysitters for when she wanted to actually spend time with the man she agreed to marry.”

Raven chuckled before letting the smoke continue on a while in his stead, the royal family grew and prospered.

Kahn and his Wee Bobby

“Kahn and his sister had inherited their parents shoe shop and over the years began to struggle to keep up with the fashions and trends that began to overtake the practicality of the footwear that they made by hand.

One night Kahn had toiled on a pair of dancing shoes till his eyes had blurred, the only thing left to do was to assemble and finish the footwear. They both hoped that making something as specialised would help the store remain in their hands. Kahn didn’t want to tool down, but it was for the best as he made his way to get some sleep. There was no sense in rushing anything in the final stages, one mistake, one scratch… all of his work would be undone.

Now, neither shoemaker nor cobbler had expected to return to the shop in the morning to see the finished product sat on the bench. They both thanked the other and denied their part in an odd sense of confusion. On examination some of the stitches were almost too precise… Kahn had turned them over again and again as he gave them a final polish, it was as if they had been meticulously trimmed too…

The duo didn’t have too much time to dwell on what happened, as within hours of the shoes being picked up by the client they had a small list of orders from the dance school. It seemed that they were impressed by the quality of the most recent pair they had seen.

Kahn got to work as soon as he saw the list and Novan helped him where she could, getting the materials ready and roughing as much as she could in between her repair orders. Kahn found himself at the same stage as the night before, part of him wondered if the same thing would happen as the previous night. He dismissed it as a fluke before heading up.”

Raven chuckled and pointed out two small moving dots, they made their way to the workbench and the materials started moving around and forming more shoelike shapes.

“It took till the third night before the duo realized that a pair of elves were sneaking in to continue the work for them. They had managed to watch in an awed silence as their little helpers chattered away and scurried off when their work was done.

Kahn and Novan both discussed their little friends, and how on earth they could thank them for helping the shop get back on track. Kahn decided that he’d at least attempt to feed their little helpers, he hadn’t seen them taking a break to eat at all and wondered if that was why they were helping.

Novan decided on a more practical approach and she started stitching together some new clothes for the poor hard working beings. They had noticed patches upon patches on their knees and elbows… perhaps they left themselves no time at all to look after their own needs.

Both siblings could barely contain their grins as they set out their efforts, they hoped they had done well enough to treat their little friends. They had managed to find the furniture from their old doll house and set it all up on the workbench, a little dining area with the treats and a little changing area for them to try the clothes.

Kahn had done as Novan had asked with some of the items and they managed to create entire outfits between them, every item was adjustable in one way or another for either height or girth… They didn’t have any measurements to go off of after all.

When the elves next arrived they were overjoyed to see such a treat for them. They had first been confused and looked for the shoe materials before it dawned on them that the items laid out were actually for them.

One of the elves scurried off after an outfit was chosen and as much of the food that could be carried was packed. The other began to look around the workshop a little, against Novan’s better judgement Kahn approached the bench and waited for the elf to return to the little dining area.

‘Say… If… If I get more of this-‘ the remaining elf hinted to the food that had been left for them ‘can I stay?’ He did seem to be a little excited at the prospect.

‘You can stay as long as you like.’ Kahn extended his pinkie to the elf ‘I’m Kahn. Sis is Novan.’ He grinned and watched as his finger was shook by the elf.”

Raven rolled his hand a little and the scene changed from night to day and the workbench resembled a more used one again.

“Bobby had been happy to find out that Kahn kept rats, he befriended one and used it as a mount to get around and about the shop. He’d asked to live inside one of the unused rat cages and after some negotiation he finally wore the siblings down. It was safe enough for him and they had insisted on supplying him with furniture for his needs, they were lucky that doll furniture seemed to do the trick for the duo.

Wee Bobby was more than content in a simple nest of straw as it was… but to know that he had found people to care so much about him, he was happy to stay with them and keep working with them.

Many a night Kahn had to scoop up their little friend and settle him in his bed, it continued to amuse him that the elf was so comfortable working with them for table scraps and the odd new item of clothing.

‘Honestly… What am I do to with you wee one…’ Kahn found himself asking one night as he managed to coax a sleepy doll out of his day outfit and into his night one.

‘Don’t throw me away…’ Bobby yawned and wrapped his arms around one of Kahn’s index fingers.

‘I won’t.’ Kahn managed to gently kiss the top of Bobby’s head before tucking him into his sheets, he had pondered how to do so without terrifying the little one and decided just to be gentle and go for it.

Kahn made sure to listen out for that gentle whistling snore before he popped Silky in his cage till it was time for Bobby to need him. Sometimes the little one struggled to sleep and it was a case of letting the two snuggle, others he went away easy enough.

Over time Bobby started worrying less about being sent away, he was truly one of the family and he was happy to interact with customers during the day. There had been a few incidents where either sibling had to snatch him and practically pocket him for a while, but, they became far and few between.

Wee Bobby eventually became less of an attraction and more of an accepted shoemaker. Though, not saying it wasn’t a bad thing that he was. It was because of him that Novan was able to encounter her husband and begin courting him.

Kahn was sad to see his sister leave, but he was happy that she had found someone to love. Sometimes he found himself looking at the workbench and simply watching as Bobby stitched away or added whatever details he wanted. Call him odd, but he couldn’t think of anything better than the way things were.”

Raven chuckled a little, letting the scene continue a while longer. The pair simply working together in the shop, eating, sleeping… Carrying on living together as if it were the most natural thing in the world. By the time the smoke story ended Raven was long gone.