Young Writers Society

"Its OK, you can look," I told the girl, handing over the blade as we walked, hunting. "I'm sorry about the looks I gave you. Your eyes remind me of a bitch that tried to remove my chip. The name's Cleo, or A & D if you like. You?" I asked.

"February." She took the sword, examining it. "It's an amazing weapon."

"My past owner gave it to me," I explained.

"And I just have a bow." She replied, passing it back. I sheathed it noisily. We walked together, neither knowing what to say but neither wanting to leave.

"Your quite beautiful, you know." I planned this. She would leave, than I wouldn't have to, and we could still be friends.

"Thanks. You, too." She remarked. I almost gagged. No girl would of said that.

"You must be ill. How are you feeling?" I asked her, genuinely worried. No girl in their right mind would say that. Kai walked up to us, and dodged me and spoke directly to February.

"You should be hunting, not flirting." He reprimanded. She just looked down.

"the fault is mine. I spoke first, and refused to give in. Punish me of you will, just it wasn't her fault." I told him with a challenging look. He stalked off, in a huff.

"I'm going to go looking for meat. You want to come with?" I asked her.

Petsha

I gasped and turned around, hearing the fat moth fly off again.
"Y-yes," I studdered, then realised he was one of our team members.
Why dolls killed each other was beyond me. Being alive in itself was amazing.
"You're wandering off, it's not safe," He reminded me.
Like I cared. I rather be out here.

He walked over to me and held out his hand as if to say, 'ladies first'. I looked at him strangly and grabbed his wrist, pulling him towards the tree.
"Come up here," I told him.
He looked at me oddly, but followed me when I climbed up the tree, it's rough bark was rigid and was easy to climb, I was careful to avoid moss. All I needed was to fall on Zion. That would be embarrassing.

When we were up on the branch, I waved my arm out at the landscape, which was again, breath taking.

Ivan

I groaned and ran a hand through my hair. This was frustrating!

"Calm down, brother," Kirill said jokingly while sitting back down. I glared at her briefly before continuing my pacing.

"Petsha said she saw an enemy! They couldn't have found us out this quickly," my voice showing only a small hint of annoyance before throwing Kirill and Kai, who was leaning on a small tree, a confused look. Kai raised her eye brows and gave me a questioning look.

"Kai is right," Kirill said thoughfully. "We have been camping in the small spot since the first doll fight." Kai nodded and I sighed.

"That's because this is a good campout. Do you think we should move?" There was a short silence before I shook my head slowly. "Anyway, we'lll discuss that later. Right now, we need someone to go and search for that enemy Petsha saw." Kirill and Kai both nodded in agreement and I quickly looked around. My eyes laid upon February, who was looking lonely while he searched for food, Shey, who I told to weave sticks, and Ribbon, who was collecting berries on the ground. "Hey, you three," I called out to them, my voice carrying far though I didn't scream. They all looked up and Ribbon immediately came bouncing over, taking a hint, Feb and Shey soon followed.

"Yes, sir?" Ribby said, smiling for some reason.

"I need you three to do me a little favor."

"Okay," replied Shey. Feb just blinked.

"I need the three of you to make a quick round of the perimeter, make sure no one is lurking around. If you see anyone who is not a part of our team, I want the crushed pices of their Chip brought back to me, got it?" Ribbon nodded and quickly ran to go get her mace. Funny, such a small and cute girl like her carrying around a mace. Feb and Shey went to grab their weapons and I watched silently as the three set off.

"Think they'll find anything," Kirill asked. I shrugged and went to sharpening my sword.

"I don't know. But, on the topic of moving camp..."

Cleo

Bringing back a deer, i arrived to find February gone on some mission, no doubt. I deposited the meat on an accumulating pile of food, and reported to the leaders to find Ivan and Kirill bickering.

"Anything I can do?" I asked them.

Sorry for the short post!

Ribbon

I grabbed my mace and ran over to where the other was already heading off.
"So," I said, "you two new, right?" Shey looked at me and smiled before nodding.
"Yeah."
"It's scary."
"Excuse me?"
"It's scary, right? To know that you main purpose in life is to kill or be killed."
"Oh," she mumbled, looking down now, "yeah, it is." I glanced over and saw that she was frowning now.
"Oh my," I exclaimed, "I'd not mean to sadden you! I was just trying to make conversation." Shey smiled and laughed briefly.
"It's okay." There was a long silence, awkward even. I had just open my mouth to say something but she beat me to it.
"That girl, Kirill," she started. "She's scary." Surprised, I laughed out loud and shook my head.
"No, she's actually really nice! She just has to keep everything in order around here. Along with her brother and Kai."
"The other," Shey said, "Kai, she doesn't talk much, does she?"
"She doesn't talk at all," I pratically yelled. I laughed but stopped when I heard rustling coming from one of the trees. I could hear Shey's breath hitch. Silently, I gestured for her to follow me and headed off towards the noise.

Umm... just so u know, I'm not in the mission. I think... yeah, i'm not.

Kai

I tilt my head down to the east, shrugging ever so slightly. Ki and Ivan are probably the only ones who are fluent in Kai-speak, and immediately responded.

"It could work, Iv. There's a few pools down there, clean water, and it's... what, Kai?" Now I'm angling my head eastward and back, glancing over my shoulder and brushing the back of my neck- East in the forest. Too open here. Ivan immediately nods.

"Smart, Kai. And d'you think...?"

I nod. The lagoon isn't something they'll have moved. I touch my lips and then my stomach briefly and lightly, to remind them that I can hunt, maybe teach the young ones, there, without having to worry about the salt water short-circuiting their chips (even now, after all these battles, I kept my neck and head above water) or the sand irritating their new skin.

"Alright, then. To the lagoon it is."

I smiled broadly and reach around to pet my scimitar again.

It comforts me.

Cleo

"So... we're moving?" I asked Kai as she rushed by. She simply nodded. Ugh. I HATE moving with a passion. I slowly gathered my scant things, whilst the rest of the camp made preparations.

"but the three guys out won't know, and they'll come back here, and won't find us!" Worry penetrated y voice. We need numbers. No one acknowledged my comment.

Zion

I smiled to myself, honestly amazed by the scene. If I looked straight, I could see the tree-tops, stretching until it turned into ocean and eventually faded into the horizon altogether. If I looked down, I could see a slight fog curling around the treetrunks. So this is what she did when she went out alone like that, she admired.

"It's incredible," I murmured, not bothering to take my eyes off of the stars.

She nodded, touching the tree-trunk lightly, running a finger through the grooves in the bark. It was strange really, I had never imagined that any of the dolls on this hell-hole of an island cared about this sort of thing the way I did.

I reached around her, pulling a leaf off of the branch. Petsha turned, eyeing my arm suspiciously for a moment before turning back to the scene in front of us. I held the leaf in front of my face and closed one eye, grinning to myself.

"What?" Petsha asked quietly.

I opened my eye and lowered the leaf, still grinning. "You know, you can't really admire the beauty of the forest as a whole without admiring the beauty of everything the forest's made up of," I told her. "Here, hold the leaf up in front of the moon and close an eye." I handed the leaf to her and plucked another one, doing just as I had suggested she do.

I ran through the trees, searching for the group. And, whilst I'm at it, maybe an enemy. I wove between the trees, and snaked in and out of bushes. Soon, I was upon a group of three. The lead girl, as it seemed, got our her mace.

"Holy!" I cried, bringing out my sword. We grappled for the advantage; me causing severe gashed in some spots but she severed my sword arm. I cursed and switched to the other hand. A mace did not have the stealth a sword had. I snaked it around her neck, and doubled over when she struck me between the legs. Fighting my urge to cry, we continued to fight for the advantage until our weapons were crossed, and it was a battle of strength.

"February!" I cried, drawing my weapon. "It's you guys. Wow, can you fight!" I told the lady I was fighting with.

"You're one of Tom's dolls?" I asked.

"Yes, he is." February informed her.

"The name's Cleo, or A & D if you like." I offered

"Call me ribbon." She reached out a hand, as did I. "What happened to your hand?"

"You got it off. Where is it, anyways?" I asked, pain evident on my face as i looked for it. The devil was rested on the floor, dirt spraying from it when I picked it up.

"I'll help." The boy, who was silent the whole time, informed me.

"Thanks." I commented when it was on. "Well, we're moving the site to some lagoon.We have some time, though I wanted to make sure you knew."

"The lagoon!" Ribbon commented. "Are you sure?"

"Sure as anything." I replied. "You know of it?"

"Yes," She replied, deep in thought. "You'd best just come with us." She replied. I shrugged, and followed the troupe with February.

"We meet again," I told her sarcastically.

"Yes, we do." She replied. A peaceful silence came over us as was heard voices through the trees. I cursed silently, and drew my sword. I was also slightly aware of Feb stringing her bow. I nodded to Ribbon, who led us through the moss surrounding the two men.

Petsha

It looked amazing, all the little veins on the leaf, all leading somewhere to keep the leaf alive. Every tiny fiber always working, always moving, always doing something that kept it alive. I thought I was the only one who cared to take time to look at what's right in front of me. Maybe I wasn't the only one who was curious from the start...

Petsha blinked awake, and looked at the smiling faces in front of her. They all cheered in victory, but Petsha was curious. She stood up and waved at the nice looking people.
"Hello," she said sweetly, amazed she could talk.
They all greeted her warmly, she looked at the door. Then, did a curious thing, and walked over to it, turned the knob, and left the room.
"Come back!" All the scientisted cried.
She was too curious and kept walking and examining objects around her. Eventually hands restrained her and tied her up.

"Petsha? Petsha?" Zion waved his hand in front of my face.
I blinked a few times and smiled at him, realising I zoned out.
"Y-ya?" I asked, shaking my head.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing," I sighed, "Nothing important."

Luna

We stepped silently through the forest, France and I. We had been walking for maybe half an hour, and I was expecting to meet some enemies soon. Beside me he looked really nervous, really freaked out, but like he was trying to keep a calm demeanor. I wanted to comfort him, but to make any sound could be life-threatening. Instead, I gave him a reassuring smile every once in a while, hoping that he would realize he wasn't going through this alone, and that we were all in this together. Nothing would hurt him on my watch.

A salty wind blew through the trees, rustling all the leaves. It was amazing, unnatural even, how the ocean and forest climates could coincide with such little conflict. I half expected to find an arctic tundra one of these times, simply in the middle of a heat wave. Humans, they were unpredictable in their predictableness. You never knew just how unimaginative they were going to be next.

I heard a faint shout coming from my right. I put my finger to my lips, motioning France forward. Together we went forward through some thick trees. On the other side there was a clearing with a drop off leading to a sandy area. I crouched down, nodding for France to do the same. We crept forward while more shouts rang through the air. Peering over the edge of the drop off, I saw two dolls fighting over a mace. Idiots.

I caught France's gaze. I pointed to him, then his scythe, then one of the dolls. He nodded saying he understood, but his face was white, if porcelain could become more so than it normally was. France got to his knees, raised his scythe, but hesitated. Do it... I thought. It's the only way we're getting off this island.

February

I was annoyed. A & D was being stupid. Just because... it didn't matter. I was just about to say I didn't thing we would see anyone and that Petsha the "little innocent girl" was lying when we heard voices. I thanked god I hadn't, it would just be one more thing A & D would use against me with just a glance. We all walked through a bush and easily surrounded the two men. They were startled for only a second.

Just when they were about to turn to run, they knew they were too outnumbered, Shey jumped into action. Before I could react he had already taken the head off of one doll by getting the chain around his throat then kicking his back. The other doll hadn't given a second thought to his partner and was now running. Ribby was going after her, but her heavy mace slowed her down. As A & D smashed the one dolls head and chip I drew my bow and shot my arrow. Ribby's mace hit him just a split second before the arrow landed causing him to buckle and the arrow only to grace an arm. I curse. No one would remember the girl who almost saved the day. But, there was no time. The mace had damaged the doll, yes, but it now had turned to attack. A spiked whip was suddenly wrapped around Ribby. I suppressed gasp aiming instead. The arrow hit its target and before untangling herself from the whip Ribby smashed it's head for good measure.

She walked back carrying the rope. When she got closer though I realized her while torso was cracked in a few different places. I didn't know what to do. Before I could ask her if she could make it back she had handed the whip to me. "Your first trophy." That was discussing. I didn't want it, but I really couldn't say no so I took it and tied it to my belt. I never knew how much I would really need it. "Your first kill huh?"

"Yeah" I whispered. My first kill. I didn't want a first kill, I didn't want the whip, I didn't want to be here, but no one did. We turned as Shey spoke the words I had forgotten. "Can you make it ba- to the new camp? We could carry you if you needed it. Or we could send someone, or."

"I'm fine really. As long as I don't get bumped to hard or get hit again. The cracks are O.K. and can be fixed pretty quickly by someone experienced." Shey looked doubtful. "Really they look worse than they are or feel. They are just on the very outside mostly chips."

Petsha wasn't the one who said she saw an enemy, that was... uh... what's her face. Petsha keeps wandering off before anyone can talk to her. and vice versa.

France

I took a deep breath and started towards the group of dolls fighting amongst theirselves but, as I got closer, I recognized a few faces.

"Ribbon?" I murmered, confused. I turned back to Luna and quickly told her that the dolls were of our own team. She smiled a bit and nodded, catching up to me.

"We catch up to them," she whispered into my ear. I shuddered as her breath ghosted across my ear. I blushed lightly and nodded, starting for the rest of our group.

"Hey, guys! Wait-" I cut off suddenly as a group of others came running out of the forest and started attacking Ribbon and, from what I could see, February and Shey.

"Oh no," Luna breathed, her weapon already drawn. She turned to me and gave me a little push. "We've got to help!" she yelled at me. But I was frozen. I've never see dolls just attack each other like that. I knew I would be seeing things like this but I've never really though about it like this. Ribbon raised her mace and smashed it into the enemies head. I flinched back. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I could hear Luna yelling at me to move my legs and help them but, by the time I slipped out of my daze, the fight was over, Shey's chest was cracked, and Luna was glowering.

"I-I'm sorry," I mumbled. I heard her huff before she took me by the arm.

"Don't worry about it," she sighed, "let's just go."