Young Writers Society

“Not since dropping onto an avant-garde tree sculpture, no,” Dara replied to Rayden. Behind her minimal expressiveness she looked appreciatively at him, or at least vaguely to him; her vision still drifted as he helped right her. “Thanks, mate,” she added, returning her gaze upward to where Lex and Aegeas now ascended.

She called up to Lex, since he appeared to know what he was doing, “Hey, Lex, any idea where we can go from here?” Her tone encouraged him to scan around from above the grounded trees.

While everybody else was either tentatively exploring the bounds of this gravity-free zone or helping those who hadn't come to enjoy it just yet, Dae had decided to explore. He quickly figured out that the most efficient form of travel for him was to become a very small, bright red eastern dragon; after all, they didn't require wing propulsion in order to move about, and Dae did not think flying around on wings would be more effective than what he was doing.

It was probably fortunate that he heard Dara call up to Lex; otherwise, he wouldn't have done anything remotely productive once he had glided through the air up to the tops of the trees to look around. He was a curious creature by nature, due to the distinct lack of threats to him in the previous forest he inhabited. He wasn't used to practicality, and thus far the group's need for practicality had no use for him. When he sat upon the branches of one of the uppermost floating trees, he took the opportunity to examine the groups surroundings from a far better viewpoint than what he had earlier.

Lex stared down at the ground below them, trying to get a sense of just how high up they were. There had been a time where he had been much higher than this, floating off of the ground without his feet - or whatever he would call what he had instead - ever touching the surface. The thought made him absentmindedly raise a hand up to the pulsing blue highlights in his hair.

He pushed the thought away.

"I think we're ten or fifteen feet off the ground," he guessed. He wasn't good at telling distances, but that seemed like a good estimate.

Then Dara's question registered, and Lex began to suspect he had somehow become the unofficial leader of the group.

He raised a finger and pointed forward - lining up perfectly with the path they had made along the water earlier. "I think we should go that way," he said. "The trees have to stop floating eventually, and I feel like there would have to be some kind of civilization near a place like this - either as a tourist attraction, or a research station."

Helenah was silent the entire time and was enjoying the little trip into air. When she heard what Lex had said, she asked a question. "Um, we have to cross this anti-gravity place to continue our, uh, how do you say... Trek?"

She held on to one of the branches, "You know we could just fly the rest of the way, don't ya think?" she giggled, letting go of the branch.

Well, that was a little higher than Aegeas had thought, but still not very dignified of him to worry over.

That didn't stop him from squeezing Lex's hand a little more when Helenah proposed they fly. "Is it fine if we take it slow?" Aegeas said. "I don't want to fly too fast and smack into a tree or something."

Kiran stepped to the edge of the anti-gravity area? Was that the right word? Did it matter?

She shook her head.

Looking around, she realized that going around the area would be inconvenient in the least. It would take too long. She had to find someone to send her home. Nina would be worried.

"When we find some locals," she said, drifting up to join the others in the air, "Do you people mind if I ask to get back to my home first? My date mate is going to raise hell if I'm gone for too long, kinda literally, so, uh, I kinda need to get back before a city gets leveled or something."

He looked at the floating forest ahead of them, studying its layout and trying to understand just what path they would need to take to get through it. Then he turned his attention back to the three that had just spoken.

"I don't think we can go around this area," he said, facing Helenah but speaking to the entire group, "so flying through it is our only choice."

He glanced over at Aegeas and gave him a comforting smile. "We probably should take it slow, just to be on the safe side."

And, lastly, he turned to Kiran.

"I don't mind," he said with a small shake of his head. He paused. "...But I'm not sure they'll be able to send you back, or if anyone here can leave without everyone else going home at the same time."

Helenah cheered. That's when she caught sight of Ruby again. She waved one of her arms. Ruby came zooming in but not in the ant-gravity area. "What are you doing?"

"Flying!" Helenah giggled. "Where were you?"

"I found a flock of birds and there's a bunch of hummingbirds - like me!" Ruby chirped, "I keep on coming over here to you to keep an eye on you, Helen."

Helenah laughed. "That's great! And I'm fine." she said.

"And how long is this going to take?" Aegeas said. "I'm, not exactly in the mood to look and see how big this forest is."

Lex studied the floating forest, trying to make out where gravity started working again. "I don't think it'll take long," he said - though the uncertainty was clear in his voice. "It might take an hour at most."

Kiran furrowed her brow, "Then we should start moving. I might be able to speed us along if anyone's desperate, but it's likely to be...unpleasant for anyone who isn't used to it."

Rayden still hadn't stepped into the anti-gravity zone.

Rayden always wished he'd be able to fly. To soar straight up into the clouds and forget the world below existed. He would become the wind, strong and in control; as powerful as a storm.

He had a feeling that travelling the anti-gravity realm was not going to be like that.

"I don't think any of us are desperate enough to speed through this," he told Kiran, glancing at Aeges. Rayden remembered his request.

He took a tentative step forward, and then another. He felt himself rise - his stomach did a little twirl inside him, and then he was floating. His hair was sticking up, and his shirt rode up his abdomen - it was too big for him. He heard a clang and several copper numus were making their way out of his pockets. He sighed.

If he was being perfectly honest, the experience made him feel massless. Like a big, fat bundle of nothing. His insides were floating inside him too - gravity played a big role in making sure what was inside remained inside, so Rayden wasn't very sure if the contents of his stomach felt very secure at the moment.

"Well," he said. "Onwards, it is."

"Yeah, let's get going," Aegeas said, nodding his head and trying to ignore the nauseous feeling that followed. "If we really need to go fast, then we should."

"Cool, cool," said Dara. It was not cool, but she wasn't about to argue with reality. Her energy returned to her like a slow-filling cup as the crystals demanded less of it, purifying after being tainted with use. Her senses sharpened the way microscopes do, gradually, precisely, patiently. She perceived the fanciful lack of gravity more holistically as moments passed, and would likely find that even more so when she crossed into it.

Dara wasn't afraid of the floating sea of trees; it only argued with everything she believed in. Straight-faced, she walked forward until she found she could walk no longer, because she was then drifting upward with others in the group, albeit slightly faster. Her head still swirled a little, but she seemed to be improving.

As she rose towards the dangling roots of trees, she remarked, "If this happens to be a tourist attraction I might not handle this well at all."