Young Writers Society

Ki shrugged, and stepped on to the staircase. It backed up again, Ki holding out their hands to catch themself. The stairs slammed forward again, and they tripped, rolling down some of the stairs and landing perfectly on their feet. The stairs made a strange noise, almost like a whine or a heavy sigh before coming to a stop.

Ki looked up at the child and gestured him to follow.

Pren grinned and bolted down the now-stationery stairs. "That was an awesome landing!" He hopped down next to Ki and brushed some green hair out of his face. "Nice work. Gosh, I feel kind of useless now. My strength is talking, not physical activity... Huh, should I have tried talking to the staircase? Nah, I doubt that would've helped." He skipped down a few more stairs. "Anyways, let's get out of here! What do ya say?"

Ki nodded and descended the rest of the stairs. Once they opened the door at the ground level, they sheathed their sword. The buildings were oddly shaped, as if the architecture designed them while holding a bottle of gin. They sighed, and started counting all of the people in the courtyard.

One, two, three, four-

They shook their head. Too many. The answer is too many.

Most of them appeared to be children from a distance, but that didn’t slow Ki’s racing thoughts.

Pren entered the building and immediately noticed the buffet tables along the curving walls. There were a couple of students finishing up meals at circular tables, and at the far wall there were a pair of double doors that presumably led to a kitchen.

"Cool, this must be a cafeteria!" Pren's stomach grumbled. "Haha, just in time. It looks like all the students are leaving... hmm, does that mean we might be able to grab some leftovers? Come on, let's see if there's anything to eat!" He glanced excitedly at Ki, then skipped forwards over the shiny white floor.

Ki followed Pren, crossing his four arms. They stared at the available food. There was an entire section of the servering table dedicated to fruit. They wouldn’t be welcomed here if they were found. They were never allowed in the room as the Prime Minister ate. Meal times were for important discussion, words too bright and expensive for Ki to sully with his presence. They took a deep breath and turned to the child. Even rich children were above them, they were just a subterra after all.

“I can leave.” Ki cast their eyes respectively to the floor, bowing their head.

Pren stared at them in utter bewilderment. "Leave? Why?" He glanced around the room, then lowered his voice. "Yeah, I know we're not supposed to be here probably, but free food! I love free food. Don't you?"

Pren followed Ki's gaze to the floor and looked even more confused. "And why are you staring at the floor? It looks clean to me. Wait, no, there's that bit of tomato sauce on the side." Pren's gaze traveled to the right, following drips of sauce to a large garbage can.

"Uh. Is it just me, or is that garbage can shaking?" Pren watched with wide eyes. He tapped Ki on the shoulder to get their attention, then froze as a clump of old milk cartons and rotten strawberries and various other leftovers started to rise out of the can. "Okay, that's weird. Is... is someone hiding in the garbage can?"

The clump resolved into a distinctly tentacle-like shape. Pren gulped and backed into Ki. "M-maybe you're right. Maybe we should leave."

But before Pren could take another step, three, no four, wait seven! more tentacles burst out of the can. Rising above the tentacles was a mass of leftovers that Pren could smell from halfway across the cafeteria...

The leftovers monster growled. And Pren fainted.

Tempest Briar was used to quite a few things. Waking up in random alleyways? Of course. Fighting over territory against small woodland creatures? Not her favorite thing to do in the morning, but common enough. Suddenly finding yourself in a giant class dome surrounded by people in very strange outfits in bright colors? Now that one he had never done before.

Before now, that is. Because that seems to be what exactly just happened. Most people seemed to be as tall as the average alis now, but without the wings or the elemental hair. Well, some of them had elemental hair actually. That would make blending in much easier. She looked around to see if anyone else looked like they had just materialized into this strange world.

Pel

The clear dome was quite a change from the dim kitchen Aapeli had been washing dishes in. In fact, it was quite a change from his whole hometown of Kalda. Pel glanced around and blinked, soap suds still covering his hands. Where was he?

As Pel observed more of his surroundings, it became apparent that most people were going about their business and not paying attention to him. They glided across the smooth floor, chatting and carrying gilded bags filled with… clothes? Was this a shopping center in Glinthaven, perhaps? Pel had never been there, so he couldn’t be sure… But somehow, that didn’t seem quite right. There were too many unfamiliar styles and objects in this place. Pel blinked and tried not to panic. If he got here somehow, he could get home, right? He started looking around for whatever magic had transported him here.

Tempest Briar spotted a teen with white hair, eyes scanning the place like he had just woken up for the first time in twelve years.

Tempest Briar put on his most easy-going smile and waltzed up to the poor kid. “Hello! Did you just happen to appear here in this very loud place?” She rubbed her ears. “Because, if so, I can grant you some solace. You’re not the only one!”

Pel blinked at the blue-eyed, blue-haired person. "Oh... Hello there." He shifted nervously. Was this person a friend or foe? And was appearing in random places a common thing? Well, whatever the case, Pel might as well try to get more information. "Do you know where this place is?"

Tempest Briar shook his head. “Not at all, I’m afraid. I can say what it isn’t, but I’m afraid that’s not very helpful.”

She readjusted her bag, suddenly thankful that today was a hide away your strangeness kind of day. It made waking up in unknown places much easier.

“But, I’m sure we can wander and find some answers.”

Pel eyed the stranger for a moment as he wiped his soapy hands on his pants. He still wasn’t quite sure he could trust them, but company was often a good idea when exploring, right? And if something did happen, Pel could always activate his aura, summon his flock of cranes, and escape.

“Alright. That seems like a good course of action.” Pel gave the person a half-smile. “Maybe we could check out one of the shops nearby?” He glanced around, taking note of the various shops and wares they sold. There was one that seemed to have cooking utensils, another for jewelry, and one with racks of clothes. “Perhaps that clothing store. I’d rather like to blend in if we’re going to be spending some time here.”

Tempest Briar nodded. "One should always look the part. Good idea, my good sir."

He approached the store, taking note of everything in there. "I've never seen clothes like this before. The dresses are rather flat and short. I can't say I mind, though. Maybe it's an American thing." He turned to Pel. "Is it?"

Pel looked at the outfits and frowned. "I don't usually go clothes shopping, but I've never seen anyone wearing this. Though, to be fair, I spend most of my time either at school or at home. And I am definitely not up to date on all the styles of the rich and well-off..."

He browsed through a rack of pants. "What is this golden fabric? It feels smooth yet slightly hard." Pel glanced at another rack. "Oh, scarves! Those patterns are exquisite."

Tempest Briar began inspecting the coats. "These are all so thin! What would these do against snow?" She scanned her back. "I think I'll stick with mine for now."

He sighed. "I wonder if they have different bags here. It might be useful to replace this one."