Epics of India

ORIGINAL: For Honor - The rain poured hard, pattering against the building as V approached the hostage. They laid kneeling, hands cuffed behind their back, neon lights from the billboards painting the room in red and purple lighting. Time was running short, and V had to move soon. Suddenly, a flash of lighting and thunder rocked the room, stunning V and forcing him to freeze. Eyes blinded by the light, he froze until his vision recovered, showing him the assassin before him, blade drawn and against the neck of the hostage. "Too late", he said. V screamed as the sword swung. Author's Note: I wanted to capture the moment in action movies where the hero is about to rescue someone, which is why I used imagery describing the scene to help add that idea to the narrative. Sometimes the hero saves someone at the last second when they think all is lost, so I ended the story right at the moment he would have saved her to leave it up to the reader to interpret how they think things ...

Jacky was off on another moneymaking scheme, this time resorting to his world-renowned (so he thought) sales tactics, rather than some sort of half-bungled heist that V would have save him from, along with the score. Jacky considered him a man of many skills, whether it came to gunfights, bargaining, or simply being a man for the ladies. Today's adventure would put his brain to the test, truly gauging his ability to adapt to any situation. He was on a trip to sell a weapons cache he and another mercenary had stumbled across in the Badlands, and so they had been hauling their separate crates in their vehicles back to Night City. Neither of them had a car big enough to haul the entire load, which is why they had decided to split it. The other mercenary was driving in front of Jacky while he tailed him, as the other guy had stronger weapons fitted onto his ride. Weapons would not be enough for these two to safely return to Night City with their treasure though. The sun shining down on...

 -In the world of Cyberpunk, there are nomadic tribes living in the Badlands outside of the city that sometimes do work for corporations. The deer could be replaced by the tribes, and the offerings of deer can be replaced by volunteer workers of some sort being sent into the city. -There are two herds of deer in the original story, so the replacement of them with two differing nomadic tribes would be easy as there are multiple in the world of Cyberpunk. -The element of hunting could also be replaced by some sort of sick bloodsport by the extremely wealthy folk of Night City getting off on hunting human beings. The story could have a different ending where they end up killing those hunting them for fun. The Banyan Deer Bibliography: Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt. Web source.

 - The Wise and the Foolish Merchant is not a comedy story, but I think I would be able to turn it into a comedic buddy adventure for V and Jacky on the road, with Jacky falling for some sort of scam that V has to end up saving him from, like con artists. - I might keep the element of merchants, but rather than having them travel, V and Jacky would be selling goods from their adventures in a night market of sorts. Jacky would try to get a good deal on his goods, and end up losing it all thinking he made an excellent bargain. - There are no demons in Cyberpunk, but there are plenty of gangs and lowlifes in the world that prey on unsuspecting folk like Jacky. There are also "hacks" known as "daemons", so Jacky could get robbed via his cybernetics by an outside hacker. A futuristic night market Bibliography: Jataka Tales, by Ellen C. Babbitt. Web source.