Young Writers Society

Pren looked at the basket of cherries, which was now only about a quarter full and emptying fast. "Um. Maybe there are more in the refrigerator?" He quickly opened it and checked, but alas, there were none. "Okay. Is there a back door to this kitchen?"

Muttering to himself, Pren walked to the other end of the kitchen. "Here! There's an emergency exit." He pointed to a gray door. "It looks too small for the leftovers monster to squeeze through. Unless it can split itself into a bunch of mini-monsters or something..." The boy shuddered.

Ki didn’t take the time to consider that possibility and ushered the boy forward. Ki had to be last. It was their job to protect him. That meant staying behind when he ran to safety.

The leftovers monster slurped impatiently as Pren pushed open the emergency door. When it realized that the pair had stopped feeding it cherry stems and was now trying to escape, it growled and pushed its dripping head into the kitchen, but Pren was already out the door.

Ki stood still just long enough to make sure he made it out before following quickly after him, slamming the door in the putrid monster’s face.

They held the door closed, not knowing whether or not the creature was intelligent enough to open doors.

There was a squelching sound from the other side of the door.

"Phew!" Pren grinned at Ki. "Now we just need to block the door with something... Those trash bags over there? Or are those too light?"

Ki shrugged and decided to try it, picking up a trash bag and placing it in front of the door.

"Okay, you lifted that way too easily." Pren figured the leftovers monster would be able to get through if it really tried, but hopefully they'd be long gone by then. "We should get out of here." He scanned their surroundings, waving to a passing student who glanced at them curiously. "There are a couple of buildings over there... but what we really need is a map. Are we even still in Alenda?"

Ki furrowed his eyebrows. Agenda? They had never heard of that before. They shook their head and gestured for Pren to follow. They just needed to move forward.

Pren followed after Ki. "You know, your stone skin kind of makes you stand out here. I mean, I see that guy with a fiery circlet over his head, but most students look like... average humans, I suppose. But we can probably pass yours off as an Affinity! They must have those here."

Ki blinked. Wow. This Pren certainly like saying plenty of words that Ki had no idea about. Did Pren really not know about Subterras? Who had never even heard of them before?

Pren didn’t notice Ki’s confused look and kept prattling. “So, where are we going? Are we heading to that big brick building? Probably want to avoid that tower, seeing as heights didn’t go so well last time… Would it be weird to ask a student for directions?”

Ki shrugged. They weren’t exactly used to leading people. Making decisions to get people out of danger? Simple. Actually making the decisions of where to go and why? That wasn’t their duty. They followed orders.

“You don’t know? Me neither.” Pren scratched his head thoughtfully, fluffing up his light-green hair. “I’d vote for the brick building, then. Maybe there’ll be a map inside?”

Ki shrugged and gestured for Pren to lead the way.

Pel

Pel was staring at the door to the black building, desperately wishing they didn't have to enter. But if Tempest Briar was ready, he was too.

"So, do we knock, or...?"