Young Writers Society

1. Time passes. They've been traveling for a week. James and Rose are still giving each other the cold shoulder and avoiding one another. Brett gets fed up with it and tells them to go off fishing together (TIME OUT) while they're still by water b/c they'll be moving further southeast. Reluctantly, James says "fine." When they get to the river, Rose pretends to know how to fish but clearly doesn't know how to, and James helps teach her. It might be funny if by the end of it they're like "you know, you aren't all that bad" but then agree never to tell Brett that so he doesn't get the pleasure of thinking his 'plan' worked lol. @soundofmind (with @sherlockhson)

Adina is feeling very homesick, but she's also getting physically sick (something like the flu). In this post I want her to share more about her family - and we can develop it as we want based on the CP and bits and pieces throughout the SB. Maybe have a flashback to a time w/her fam or when she was discovered as a mage or discovered she had magic! (We do know her mom had magic (and was killed for it) and left her a journal of her finidings/discoveries about magic.) Kaia goes to get herbs to make a medicine to make her feel better w/James while Ari, Rose, and Brett stay to care for her. @fraey

Skipping along the coastline, Adina happily hummed a tune she remembered hearing as a child. Short little whistles startled Uri from the cat’s perch on her shoulder, fleeing for drier land. It had been a few days since James and Rose seemed to reconcile in some way - the whole fishing expedition worked somewhat in bringing the opposing heads together.

She was certainly happy to see the whole group getting closer with one another and simply closer to perhaps a peaceful time in their lives. A sudden urge to sneeze broke through her thoughts, leaving her disoriented afterward. She didn't know where this wave of tiredness came from, but it had set her off in a not-so-nice way.

Adina huddled into herself. The others were mostly ahead of her, caught by the ocean or being tempted to ask the others - mostly Brett or Kaia about their own backstories. She huffed, but then started to walk faster. No point in staying behind everyone, even if she felt like she was catching something.

By the time they took a break to pull out some food, Adina had sneezed twelve times and coughed a dozen more into her arm. Not that she was counting. Ari had asked her earlier if she was feeling ok, but she just shrugged in answer. Yes, she felt kinda alright, but not really, but she wasn’t sure how to describe how she felt.

Somehow, too, her feeling worse reminded her of what she used to cherish - her parents would pile her with blankets and warm soup whenever she felt sick. But that was before they realized she had magic and threw the whole family into disarray. There were a few times Adina could look back at fondly, though, when she froze her brother Rowan after he pranked her.

It was barely a few days past her twelfth birthday when she realized something odd like there was a disturbance in the air. Rowan had been running outside of their modest home when he suddenly yelled out. Alarmed, Adina raced outside, only to see him laughing in the grass, covered in dirt.

For a second, it felt like time had frozen, her brother's hand stretched out towards her, but motionless. She, however, could still move, and grasped Rowan's fingers with her own, seemingly unaware by how she must have looked - being the only one able to do anything in a short time.

His hand clenched then, bringing her out of that peculiar state. Adina was met with raised eyebrows and a rare concerned look on Rowan's face. A question laid in his expression, but she had no answers, no ideas as to where this power she held could have come from.

"'Dina?" That sounded like her father who had still been inside the house - she spun around to see wide eyes on both him and her mother.

"Hi." Adina felt that was all she could really say.

"Oh dear," her mother fussed, rubbing at her forehead.

That had been a long night, Adina peppering her parents with questions with very few answers, mostly due to the fact that none of them knew much at all. The memory could still bring a smile to her face, as that had been a good day overall. Never had she any control over her older brother. And, she thought with a bittersweet smile, she still didn't have that control.

Adina couldn't help the next wave of coughing, feeling bad even as her companions popped their heads to look at her. She tried to wave them off, but felt worse for wear, once she felt herself rocking back and forth.

"Adina?" She blinked open her eyes, not knowing they had been shut. Neither did she know how she could have slept half the day away, judging by the sun in the middle of the sky.

"How long was I out?"

A blurry vision of James wavered by her. "Long enough to be concerning."

"... sorry."

A female voice hissed. "Being sorry doesn't help the situation."

There was the lovely Rose. With that, Adina pulled herself up into a sitting position, peering bemusedly at the cat in her lap. She felt exhausted despite how long she had slept. Maybe something really was up with her, hm?

She must have tuned out for a few minutes, as the next time she was aware, a conversation had begun around her.

"No way we can keep traveling until she's feeling better."

Adina frowned at that, already feeling guilty that she must have paused their journey. They needed to keep moving. She tried to shake herself awake, but hands paused her movements.

“We can grab some herbs that’ll help - there has to be some around here.”

What sounded like Kaia and James whispered between them. Oh, she was so sorry - they didn’t need to go to such an effort for her -

“Hush, Adina. We’re going to take care of you.”

Had she spoken aloud?

“Yeah.”

“We’re helpin’ -”

“We’ll keep an eye on her.”

She fell asleep a second time, this time to a murmur between Rose, Ari, and Brett.

3. A few days pass and with Kaia's cure, Adina is better. They keep moving. Brett and Ari are scouting around/checking the area and see signs that they're being followed (by mage hunters, but they don't know that yet) when they're going to settle down for the night and decide to travel through the night instead so they don't get caught up to. Some nice sleepy/sleep-deprived convos or joking. @Featherstone