Young Writers Society

You are living in a utopian society. Your home is in a city that hovers hundreds of kilometers above ground. It is extremely vast, yet everything beyond the city limits is out-of-bounds for everyone, and it is strictly forbidden to go there. Yet you know that there is nothing after the city limits. All smart life exists within your small community. Everything is perfect. The crime rate is at around 0%, and everyone is living happily. Lately, however, you have seen several wounded people, and everyone seems to be trying to keep it quiet. Tension starts rising, and people get suspicious.

One day, a part of the city explodes and many fall out to the real world, down in the ground. A war is raging, and you get found by a group of people that speak a different language than you. They take you prisoner, but you are rescued by an army squad called the Dragon Squad.

Will you decide to join this group and fight against the strangers that made you lose your home? Will you fight with them, for who you thought were your people were keeping the real world from you? Or will you simply decide to try your odds and search for the way back home?

The plot:


Where you come in:


Spots:


Character Template:


Rules:
1. No godmodding, or any kind of magical powers. Remember, you are in the future, but you are still human.
2. Swearing is allowed.
3. Romance is allowed, but no sex descriptions.
4. Try to post as much as you can and don't join if you do not think you will write in it.
5. If you plan on leaving, you can or not kill your character. Please PM me.
6. Enjoy writing.

[I haven't done a storybook since before the big change, so I'm not sure if I need to post this or not.]
This looks interesting - I think I'll hop on in, if you don't mind! Might I reserve a citizen of the floating probably secretly dysutopian city? I'll get my character profile up as soon as it's done. (Like I said, I don't really know anything about the how courtesy and everything works with this new-fangled character system, so forgive me if this is unnecessary or presumptuous.)

[moved]

@Laure @zohali93: Why did you guys post on the SB? That's what the Create a new character link is for. So you don't fill up the SB with OOC post like this.

I'm so sorry, I'm new here I'll go move my post ASAP.

Max • Floating City

Max sat in his favorite spot of all. It was a park just at the end of the city limits, the one place where the city's border actually ended in a fall. A small river ran through the park, and then fell out of the world in a waterfall, down to the place known to everyone as the Void. Nobody had ever gone to the Void and survived, if ever they managed to actually get to the Void. Or at least, so said the legend. Max had a feeling that there was something beyond the city limits, somewhere that every citizen was restricted to go, both by law and by force. None of the people Max knew had ever managed to get across the force field that lined the border. No one knew what beyond the border actually was.

Max sat in the grass with his friend Silver. That wasn't really her name, but everyone called her so because of her unique natural hair color. Max loved being in the park with Silver, where they would spend hours talking about anything that could come to their mind. Right now they were talking about the Void and the Otherside; the latter was the name given by the people to the land beyond the border, yet still up in the world. The Void was the chasm that lay below the world, where the ancient people had come from, once upon a time.

"I know that this is how it's supposed to be," started Max, "and I don't know if this makes sense, but I think we are all too happy here. I can't believe that the world can be this perfect, even though it has been that way for millennia. Call me crazy, but I think that there is actually something beyond the Otherside, and that there is also something in the Void. I mean, if our ancestors came from there, there must still be something, no?"

Silver pondered that for a second, then answered, "You may be right, but I'm sure you are wrong. Everyone knows there is nothing beyond the Otherside, and nothing below the Void. Even the Elders say it. Besides, if our ancestors came here from the Void, there must have been a reason. Why would they have come here if there was still something down there? There isn't, there can't be, anything down there or beyond the borders. Otherwise we would all know by now, wouldn't we? It's useless to imagine such things that will don't exist."

"I don't believe that," replied Max, "I think they might be lying to us, and that there is something somewhere. There must be."

Silver looked at him as if he were crazy.

"Lie to us? No one would ever lie. Even less lie to the whole population! I don't think we should be talking about this..." She started getting up.

"I didn't mean-" insisted Max, but it was too late. She was gone. Max wasn't really worried, it wasn't the first time their conversations ended like that. However, there was still some time before curfew, so Max decided he could still stay in the park a bit more before going home.

He looked down towards the void, that faraway place of darkness where no one was allowed to go. The Void seemed like a huge globe of darkness that never stopped spinning. It was far away enough that he didn't think he could get there by jetpack or hoverboard, but close enough that it was always there, teasing him and making ponder if ever there might be-

Something moved below. In the darkness, a single lighted dot appeared and moved, getting bigger by the second. He thought of the spaceships he saw in the sky every so often, except he couldn't be sure it was that. Surely, a spaceship couldn't be coming from the Void, could it?

Suddenly, the dot of light disappeared. Max didn't know what to do, but the next thing he knew, he was running straight towards his house with the news of a possible comer from the Void. Nobody would believe him, but he had to go tell him.

He sprinted through the plaza, attracting several glances from annoyed people. And then, without any warning, without any chance for him to know what was about to happen, the world exploded.

The floor shattered, sending pieces of metal as well as people flying. The floor opened up and he could see the Void below him, bigger than he had ever seen it. A spaceship floated right below him, an invisible force field catching the debris and the falling people.

Max felt himself falling, and, for the first time in his life, lost consciousness as he fell down from his heavenly homeland.

Grace | The real world


I sat in a tree swinging my long legs back and forth as a slight breeze came making my hair fly back the long curls soaring. I heard a loud bang from above and jumped down from the tree. I stood in the middle of the field looking up at where the bang had come from. I felt Kashmir come up next to me and stare up too. Next thing I knew a giant shadow cast over us and was falling. I ran back over the tree I was sitting in and watched from under the branches. Then a person landed not 20 feet from me. He had a pale complexion and jet black hair. I bet down next to him and quickly took his pulse. Kashmir stood close my side watching the sky as a couple more people came down.

"Grace, move." Kashmir said sternly grabbing hold of my arm. I look up to see the entire city falling down.

I grabbed the boys arms and pulled him as quickly as I could out of the way. Kashmir and I ran as I still had the boy slung over my shoulders to save him. I heard a giant clang and then a large gust of air swept me off my feet and pushed me forward a couple of feet. I fell hard on my back to see scattered pieces of road and buildings all around the field. I sat up and looked at the broken pieces. It made absolutely no sense. I shook my head and turned my attention back to the boy. He was breathing and he looked like he was in good shape so I decided to wake him up.

I grabbed a water bottle out of my bag and pored some over his face to wake him up. As soon as the water reached his forehead he popped up.

"Where the hell am I?" He asked rubbing the back of his hand over his cheek.

"You're in the real world now, buddy." I replied standing up and brushing off my now filthy leggings.

The boy sat up a bit more and stared at the pieces of road and building a confused look growing on his face. I sighed and said, "Yeah your place kinda fell down here, so no going back, sorry."

He shook his head and stood. He was shorter than I expected, but still much taller than my short form. He looked like a child next to Kashmir. "I'm Max by the way."

"Grace, and this is Kashmir." I replied taking my crossbow off my back and loading it up with an arrow.

I held my best throwing knife in between my teeth as I put my long hair up in a ponytail. I caught sight of Max staring at me and I smirked at him taking my knife out my mouth and placing it back in my pocket.

Naa~ Floating city

In the old rickety house, and at it's little room beside the basement, A single bright light shone down on my hand. I was holding a pair of cotton gloves, but they weren't just any pair, they were special. I set one aside while I tinkered with the other, installing a very thin , flexible circuit board. Slipping my hand in, it felt stiff around my palm.

"Damn it! Why can't I get it right?" I wailed. The whole point was for the gloves to only seem like gloves and nothing more. With a slightly hard middle any one would be able to see through them. It didn't matter any more. It was to late to change it and I'd be able to fix it again some other time.

I quickly did the same for the other glove. At the end, I clasped my hands together. They were almost seamless but I was off by 5-10%.


I left the empty house and stared up at the heavily clouded sky. It made my head ache. I didn't stop walking until I made it to a plane of grass. I held my hands down at the side with my palms facing the ground.

"This is it, the moment you've been waiting for. " I say to myself. I was big on talking to myself. As you can tell, I didn't have a lot of friends. In fact, none. Not even family. Just an empty abandoned house .

"This is my way back from this fake land. " I said. Then It happened. A loud explosion. i wasn't sure If my gloves had actually worked in thrusting me into the air or if the ground had just parted and so I was falling.

~Azya~Real World~

In...Out...In....Out...In...Out...I let my finger fall from the bow string, watching as the Arrow is propelled forward, flying through the Air. I smile as I watch it hit spot on with the target. Bulls eye. Setting my Bow aside, I move towards the target and pull out my Arrows, then move back to the table I keep everything on. A thunderous explosion sounds in the sky, the vibrations reverberating through the Air and Trees. I look up at the Sky and watch as plooms of black smoke fall around me and everything.

I take off at a dead sprint, heading back home and up to main post. People are running around like roaches exposed to light as literally begins to fall. What the hell was going on. I looked around, trying to locate Anton, and spotted him heading out of a tent. He spots me and heads my way, pulling me into his arms with an amazingly heart racing kiss before pulling away slightly.

It takes me a moment for me to catch my breath before speaking. "What the in hell is going on?"

"He ordered the the strike," was all he said.

Every muscle in my body tightened at the tone of his voice. My hands ball into fists on his chest as I look up at him. "He didn't."

His face said it all. I yanked out of his arms and storm from him. "That bastard!"

"Izzy, wait!" he starts after me.

There was no way in hell i'd let this go. He'd just murdered countless people. I made my way into another tent, bypassing the Men standing there, and moved to the back portion that was closed off. Instead of in his office, he preferred to be outside where he could see the destruction he caused. He was surrounded by other, looking over a map with a drink in his hand.

"You son of a bitch!" I yelled.

All heads popped up and towards me, except for his. He was expecting me. He nodded without a word and everyone else left the Tent. He didn't say anything. Just stood there, looking at the glass in his hand, his back to me.

"What the hell did you just do?" I snapped.

"You know exactly what." he still didn't look at me.

All I saw was blood, and the next thing I know, i'm charging at him. If it hadn't been for Anton finding me and snatching me up, who knows what I might have done.

"You son of a bitch!" I fight against Anton's hold of me, trying to get at him. "Do you know what you've just done?"

"What I had to," is his reply.

"No!" I cried. "you did what you wanted to!"

"You can say what you want, but what's done is done, and it had to happen." he takes a quick swig if his drink, letting the contents swirl.

"You just murders thousands of innocent people for the few corrupt ones, and that's what had to happen?" I laugh incredulously.

He didn't say anything.

"Look at me Dammit!" I finally snap. "You can't face me because you know what you did wasn't for the good of anyone. You're just a m-"

I'm stunned to silence as he turns to look at me, his eyes so cold and hard, I couldn't recognize my own Father. I felt as if i'd been dropped in cold water all of a sudden. Without a word, he walked past me, leaving the tent, and me, speechless.

Kashmir: The Real World

He has seen many strange things in his short lift time, but this. He thought with a rather disquieting expression on his angular face, could most probably earn the cake for being the weirdest thing in this era.

A city, an entire whole city was falling out of the sky as if someone had suddenly ripped a hole in the sky and dumped the city in it.

Falling

Falling

Falling

He had trouble comprehending it, pieces of buildings, streaks of ember lay scattered over the ground. For a moment, he had forgotten about Grace and the boy whom seems to have fallen from the sky. What was his name again? He wasn’t really paying attention, and this was, most possibly the worst time that something like this should happen.

Why now?

Why did it fall?

Is it a trap?

What do they want with us?

The barrage was giving him a headache and this was no time, to have a headache. He must retain a clear and calm composure. So, he turned slowly and faced the boy. His icy chips of blue scrutinized the boy closely, taking in his pale skin that contrasted dramatically with his jet-black hair streaked with debris and a set of serious, but no doubt intelligent eyes. Then he took in his somewhat average built, lean, muscular muscles that lined his triceps and biceps. Those alone were impressive enough for someone his height, if he were no wrong. The boy would be mostly competent in speed and strength, completing his mental assessment of the boy with a quick quirk of lips.

He spoke, austere and formal. The voice of a soldier in command, “who are you? Why have your home fallen into our land? What do you want with us?” His voice had the slight tint of Norwegian accent, accompanied by a rough edge around the tone like the purr of a cat. But nonetheless, powerful, crossing his arms across his muscular chest he waited for an answer.

Annabelle: Floating City

"Come on, you," I muttered, tugging gently on the leash. "You've already peed like four times, you don't need to stop again." The dog, whose name I had already forgotten, looked at me indignantly and continued forward. "Oh, whatever," I grumbled. "I'm not your owner, don't get mad at me." The Martins were too busy over weekends to walk their dog, so I was given the task - with some payment, of course, which I was more than happy to take.

I looked at my watch. "Half an hour till curfew. Better move along or I'll just have to take you to my house, and then I'll never hear the end of it." Despite my words, I bent over to rub his head - he was a soft little thing.

I think it was about then when everything blew up.

One second I was petting a dog, and the next I couldn't breathe and my senses were imploding. I couldn't find the ground - I was spinning - there was no ground! - where was the dog?

I looked around desperately. I saw the sky, of course - and falling. Buildings falling, people falling. Why weren't most of them moving? One of them fell by me. I grabbed his arm.

"What's going on?" I wailed over the wind of our fall - oh God, I was going to die, wasn't I - but he didn't seem to hear me. "Hey!" I turned him over and his eyes were glassy, and there was a shredded piece of metal in his chest. I screamed.

I saw the dog, baying terribly, flailing at the air. Unthinking, I grabbed him and held him tight. "It's okay," I told him. "It'll be okay."

But it wasn't. I was falling.

I think it was about then that my senses failed.

Max • The Void

"Grace," the girl introduced herself, "And this is Kashmir," she nodded to a guy next to her. Then she took a crossbow from her back and loaded it.

What is going on? thought Max.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one bewildered. The other man, Kashmir, spoke up.

“Who are you? Why have your home fallen into our land? What do you want with us?” Max's mind was swimming with almost exactly the same questions. It was so full of them, he didn't know what to say.

"What is this?" he decided, "I thought there was no life in the Void."

"You thought?" inquired the girl, Grace, "This isn't any void, this is the real world buddy. Did you really expect nothing to be down here? What kind of lies do they feed you guys up there? I'm guessing they were trying to make you all think like you were living in one of those utopia bullshits. Have you been living in a hole all your life?" Max didn't answer, because for once he didn't have an answer. Also, he knew that the girl wasn't completely wrong. He had always dreamt that there was something out of the Floating City, but he had never really thought it would actually be true.

After Max didn't answer, Grace continued, "Well, let me tell you what. There is life here, more life than you could ever imagine. We are in the middle of a war. The Europeans and the Asian-African Alliance are in war with us. It is, if you haven't guessed it, a three-sided war."

"What side are we in?" Asked Max.

"What side indeed." Replied Kashmir, which wasn't much of an answer, "We are currently in North America, between the border of what was once the US and Canada. You're lucky it's just fall now, because I assume you are not used to cold temperatures. You wouldn't last a minute out in winter."

Winter? What was that? Max remembered some of the names that they had mentioned, like Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and US and Canada from his Ancient History classes. They had once told him that his ancestors had come from America, but that was as far as they had gone. Where his ancestors' history was involved, nobody had ever been very precise. Max had always thought they had tried to keep it quiet. Maybe he had been right. He would never know.

"But how come there has been a war down here and we were not aware?" Max said, "The Elders would have made something so we could come help."

Kashmir and Grace shared a dark look, almost as if to say This guy is so ignorant.

"You see," started Grace, as if talking to a small child, "That is kind of the point of isolating you. They didn't want you to know anything about the world, precisely because there was a war. They wanted to keep some priviledged people away from all the chaos of the world. We can't really understand it but…"

She stopped short, and both she and Kashmir concentrated. Max wanted to ask what it was they were concentrating on, but just as Kashmir was signaling for them to get down, a starship materialized next to them. How it had sneaked up on them so fast, Max didn't know. A door opened from within and a large group of soldiers filed out, running. Grace let loose a few arrows and knocked a couple of men down, but she couldn't do much when they grabbed her. Kashmir also tried to fight back, but to no avail. Max was too dazed and surprised to do anything. The men scanned the area and kidnapped anyone who had fallen from the Floating City or who had been around, taking them into the spaceship.

They were all thrown together into a big cell where other captives looked at them. Max saw other people get thrown in apart from Kashmir and Grace. There was a girl with a dog, another one with some kind of robot gloves, and two other people (were they a couple?) who seemed to be struggling a lot. The girl got her bow taken away, and everyone else was also stripped off their weapons.

Then the cell's lights were shut down, and the room plunged into semi-total darkness.

Grace | The void and the spaceship



I watched as the flying ship landed and men came charging out. I quickly loaded up my bow and shot two or three down as Max watched in amazement behind me. Kashmir was fist fighting off some of the soldiers when one came up behind me. I grabbed for my knife but he had my hands tied back before I could reach it.

"Get your filthy hands off me you ass hole!" I screamed in anger trashing out against him.

A hand went over my mouth as I bit at it trying to bite through his gloves and strike some blood. I watched Kash get pinned to the ground by three of the soldiers and Max watch the whole thing go down as he was pushed on.

I kept struggling against the soldier as I was pushed into the large spacecraft. Inside sat many other people that I couldn't recognize through the darkness.

My crossbow was lifted off my back along with my six throwing knifes out of my jacket pocket. Kashmir was stripped of his weapons too as Max sat down on the ground.

Someone was untying my hands from the rope and I looked around the metal room slowly taking it all in. My hands were set free and a door slammed shut behind me, locking us in. I growled in anger and took a seat on the hard floor next to Kash and Max. I looked down at my raw wrists and rubbed them hoping to sooth them from their pain.

"Where the hell are we," I muttered under my breath. Max shrugged and looked down at his lap.

I turned my attention towards him and sighed. I watched as he tapped his foot fiercely against the floor and his hands fidgeted around. He seemed very tense and I had no idea how to deal with that. I watched him move uncomfortably around for a minute longer before his head shot up and looked directly at me. Max's dark eyes stared into mine as I challenged my self to not look away. I narrowed my blue eyes and let a smirk play on my lips. He shook his head and looked away as I smiled at my small victory.

"Grace," Kash whispered in a concerned voice nudging me with his elbow. I looked over at him to see him looking towards the door.

A small knocking sound was coming from outside the door. Kashmir and I stared intently at the door till it swung open to reveal a soldier standing outside of it. The soldier walked in and sat in a chair that sat near the back of the room. The door shut and the room was swallowed in darkness again.

The wind roared past me as I fell. It was cold and as I fell deeper towards the void, I could see land. Was this one of those moments where you fell and landed right back from where you fell? No, it was different. The land below gave a different feel. It was more desolate.
The buildings were the same as the one's above but they were abandoned and/or broken.

I was nearing the bottom but with my hand out in front, I exerted a light force through the gloves and gradually decreased it until I landed safely.

Walking through the streets was nerve wracking. twitching at every sound I heard was unbecoming of me.

My feet dragged through the rubble and finally stopped. there was another person up ahead but before I could reach them, a hand clasped on my mouth and a knee jerked into my leg. I didn't have time to react as I fell, managing to only elbow them.

"Ow, there's no need to be so aggressive," the person scoffed. The voice was familiar.
"After all," the person continued, "Aren't we friends?"