Young Writers Society

Heather-

"They aren't joy jumpers."

"How..."

"One just shifted. I think... is that Damien?"

The plane was loud as it thundered overhead and I had to cover my ears. Ouch! The rest of the group ran out, obviously awoken by the loud plane.

"What's going on?" Sarah asked.

"Damien and Shade! They caught up!"

Damien was flying overhead while Shade followed in human form. Damien finally shifted into his human form and both walked up to the group, not a scratch showing.

"You made it," said Carmen.

"And where'd you get the plane?" Jason asked curiously. Damien didn't speak and looked like he wanted to disapear.

"It belongs to the Pride. But I explain that later. Do you have anything to eat?" Shade asked.

"Not really, we all ate earlier," I said.

"Oh, well that isn't too much of a problem." There was some worry behind his voice and a strain to his face, like he was about to be sick.

"Shade are you okay?"

"Yeah, well... I should probably explain a few things now that we have room to talk. I have a proposition."

"A proposition?" Trent asked.

"Yes, let's all sit down and I'll explain."

"We had a fire earlier, we could probably start it up again," said Sarah. And we all walked back to the camp, but there was something unsure in me about this proposition.

A proposition? All we were looking for really was to get away and live peacefully, right?

I definitely wasn't sure if I was going to stay there. I mean, it might not even be an environment where I'd be able to live for a while, as a person or an otter, but I was going anyway. What did I have to lose?

So I followed everybody, but I was anxious to hear what Shade offered.

*EDIT! Sorry, I got mixed up.*

*It's Shade who's offering.*

Shade-

"God I hate this part. Makes me sound like a salesman." Shade thought irritably, he followed the others back to their campsite. It was a fairly small clearing, well hidden by the surrounding trees. The remains of a fire smoldered in the center.

Shade went and leaned against the tree, shivering in the early morning chill. The others picked spots around the firepit.

Trent stretched before asking. "You mentioned a proposal. What do you mean Shade?"

Sighing Shade leaned his head back. Gazing at patches of the sky, through the canopy. "I already told all of you that I'm part of the Pride. What I didn't tell you before that nuiscance showed up. Was that you're all welcome to join the Pride if you want to."

Trent raised his eyebrow and asked cassually. "And what happens if we don't join."

He shrugged, crouching down to coax the flames back into life. "Then I stay with you until you reach Tennesee. Or until my time runs out. Whichever comes first."

Heather-

I didn't feel comfortable with this idea. Joining a group that I didn't even know existed until now didn't sit too well.

I kept thinking about Tennessee and how it sounded so peaceful. That was all I wanted right? Peace?

Trent:

"I'm going to Tennessee." Trent said. "I don't know what this group is or what it would mean for me. I'll take my chances alone if I need to."



***All i had***

Heather-

I smiled at Trent. He was still going to Tennesse. But then I saw Shade's look. It seemed sad and I felt sorry.

"What about the rest of you?" he asked.

"I don't want to join any other group. I just want to be left alone," I said quietly.

"I'm not forcing anyone to join the Pride."

I looked around, most thinking really hard about the offer. I then looked Shade in the eye and shook my head.

"I'm going to Tennessee."

...................

Is it just me or are we missing a few characters. What happened to Ballow and Fayne?

"I might want to join..." I said, unsure of what I really wanted, but why not give him some reason for staying? "But it's not like I'd be a good addition to your team. What use is an otter?" I laughed quietly, but there was an awkward silence that followed.

"We welcome any shifter," Shade said solemnly.

I nodded. "I'll think about it. I guess it depends on whether I like it in Tennessee," I said, glancing at Jason. It might depend on something else as well...

*Lol, Sorry 'bout that, my sister maxed our internet, so it was so slow it took hours to load YWS pages. Now, its all good, so I can join again. Someone please PM with the story so far?*


Ballow


Ballow glanced around at everyone, accompanied with an amused, bitter smile he said, "Well, we really don't have a choice do we?"

He put his hand up in the air and wiggled it around like a small child, "Oh, oh, OH! Pick me!"

Everyone was staring at him as if he was crazy. He lowered his hand with a wide grin on his face, "Might as well be happy and enthusiastic about it, you know? Having no choice shouldn't dampen your oh so happy spirits, should it?"

He let out a laugh and then his smile faded and turned into a solemn expression, a bit of grief, remorse and pain flickered over his face.

Then he smiled again, people were still staring. He began to laugh, "Don't you see? That was interpretation of you guys. You all look like that. Smile, do the world some good."

Then his smile faltered for a second, "There's enough bad in the world already."

It set an unearthly chill down some of the people's spines, the way he said it. As if he had seen the worst, but that was impossible . . . wasn't it?

Ballow's face lit up again as he placed his hand in front of himself, "So, who's in?"

They were staring at his hand curiously. Ballow let out an exasperated sigh, "You put your hands on top, and then you shout, "Ya-hoo!" Haven't any of you ever watched Scooby Doo the Movie? . . . No? Well, you've had a sad childhood then."

He laughed and then waited.

I actually cracked a smile at the refference to Scooby Doo. That had been my favorite cartoon, but I'd hated the movie. I placed my hand firmly on his and watched as other people followed suit.

Shade-

He ducked his head. Chuckling Shade looked around the clearing, all of these guys were really interesting. Thanks to the cat, Shade had never really fit in with the Pride. And hybrids like him were strange as a rule. Shaking his head, he laughed softly. "Tennessee it is then. Hell, I've been on missions non stop for eight months. I could use a holiday."

Shade glanced over at Carmen. "And you shouldn't worry so much about having a non combat form, Carmen. My own sister's a swan. There are already plenty of things that you can do better then anyone."

Jason

He looked at the floor, it seemed as though the group was torn between Tennessee and the Pride. Jason himself was just as torn - after all, it would be peaceful and all in Tennessee, but how many ocelots would they have there? He'd stick out like a sore thumb. Besides, despite what Shade said about there being no distinction between combat and non-combat forms, Jason felt an obligation to fight for the Pride. Wasn't it selfish to pick Tennessee when there was so much more at stake?

"I'll come with you all to Tennessee." he sighed, then continued "But Shade, didn't you say that you could get called back?"

He nodded, apparently not wanting to colour anything Jason might say next.

Jason glanced at Carmen briefly, then looked back at Shade, "I might join you if you are called back. After all, Tennessee might not be able to keep us safe forever. Although I wouldn't mind a bit of peace and quiet for a while."

Ballow


Ballow smiled and he flicked their hands into the air, yelling, "Ya-hoo!"

Only one joined him, but he smiled anyway. He let out a breath, "So . . . anyway guys, how are we getting to Tennese?"

Silence greeted him. Ballow bit his lip and scratched his head, "Well, I could fly. But I might get lost . . . I doubt you can all fly as well, seeing as someone of you are mammals . . ."

He laughed and fell to the ground and cloud of dust kicking up onto him. He blew into it with a curious expression on his face, "Say, if you had joined the Pride, what would you be fighting?"

Then he spoke straight aftwerwards, "Now don't berate me for not knowing, I wasn't exactly . . uhhh . . . Yeah, anyway. Answer the Tennesse question first please."

He was staring up at them through his silvery hair.

Trent:

"We keep walking, unless we find some way to hitch a ride, we better keep walking." He replied. "It might be easier sometimes to shift and walk, or fly, in human form, but when we do that we better have someone flying around as look out to make sure no one is around:


**All ihad*

~Damien~

I stood in the back ground and thought about melding with the woods and flying away. As far as I could. So many people, so many voices. And, for once, I was part of it. But I didn't want to be. What should I do?

So, wordlessly, I shifted, taking off.


**Sorry, all I had**

(Hey, Morpher's of the same type of animal can talk to each other can't they? Like while they're morphed? Bird-to-Bird, Mammal-to-Mammal and so on so forth?)


Ballow


Ballow still sitting on the ground watched Damien shift in amazement, he hadn't seen another bird-morpher shift before. In the middle of the shift Damien looked like an angel. His wings were sprouting from his back.

Damien then flew off. Ballow watched in amusement then shifted. Caught in the middle of his transformation, the part where the bird-morpher looked like an angel, Ballow cast a look at the others and smiled, "I'll join him. Come on then, let's go!"

Then he completely turned into a silver crow and sped off after Damien.

It wasn't long before he reached the falcon. Even though Ballow was a crow, he was fast. Ballow dived around Damien for a second and a glint of laughter sparkled in Ballow's black eyes.

Damien subsequently tried to shrug of the annoying silver crow, but to no avail, somehow Ballow always managed to catch up. After a while Damien gave up and slowed his pace so Ballow wouldn't always dive around him.

Ballow cawed in his crow voice, happiness resonated through him. To Ballow being a bird was a blessing and a release, he wasn't sure if Damien felt this way too, but somehow with the shadows at the back of Damien's eyes, Ballow doubted it.

Ballow then considered doing something, he cawed out in crow, "So, having fun?"

He wasn't sure if Damien understood, but he waited patiently for an answer.