Young Writers Society

"Hey honey." Gram said walking in and sitting next to her. "WHen did you get back?"

"A little while ago." She replied as she sat up and sat indian style.

"What did y'all do?" Gram asked as she picked up knitting.

"The Tsurekin spared." She replied. "Not much else." She replied with a shrug.

"Thats good." Gram replied. "If you weren't lying to me."

"Well that and we ran into the guy that hurt Tala and Ryukin." She admitted.

"Uh huh. we'll now." Gram shook her head. "I don't like this, but take care of yourselves."

"We will. Don't worry. Your show is about to come on watch it." She smiled kissing Gram's forehead.

Kai bolted. He ran as fast as he could to the stairwell to get to the emergency exit. The minotaur let out a bellowing roar before chasing after him. Kai slammed the door open, then went for the second door. As soon as he opened it the fire alarm went off. There wasn't a fire, but it was emergency enough to use the door.

Kai came out to the parking lot outside. He raced to the other end to try and get away through the small forest behind the building. He didn't even get half way before the metal giant crashed through the side of the building. Kai covered his head with his arms to shield himself from the debris and continued to run. He heard the creature take a few steps, then nothing. He risked a look over his shoulder to see that the minotaur was gone. That's when a large impact in front of him threw him back off his feet. The minotaur had jumped a good hundred yards with little effort. It turned to face Kai. The minotaur was at least three times the size of any Tsurekin Kai had seen so far. It was red and brown with orange eyes.

Ryukin showed up at that moment, coming down from the sky and landing on the metal creature's head. He bit and clawed has hard as he could at the thing, trying to inflict any damage he could. The minotaur roared in annoyance as it reached for the dragon. Ryukin';s eyes went red just before he shot a ball of fire at its hand. The creature roared again, but this time in pain. It took its other hand and, moving it faster this time, reached up and grabbed Ryukin. He tossed the dragon at the ground, leaving a large dent in the pavement.

"Kai, get out of here!" Ryukin yelled.

The minotaur came up to Ryukin and began to lift his foot. "Look out, Ryukin!" Kai yelled.

Something jumped out from behind one of the cars and slammed into the side of the large creature. The impact was great enough to knock it off its feet. The new creature landed gracefully in front of Kai. It was another Tsurekin. This one was a white and gold striped lion with a man's face. Its mane was made up of hundreds of tiny metal needles that gave it the appearance of real fur.

A hand appeared on Kai's shoulder as he was suddenly pulled to his feet. The person who helped him up was a woman with red hair and brown eyes who looked to be in her mid-twenties. "It's not safe here," she said as she began to pull him away from the fight.

"Who are you?" Kai asked.

"I'll explain later, let's get out of here first!"

Kai looked back at the fight. Ryukin was back on his feet, but so was the minotaur. The lion was beside Ryukin now, though.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine," she assured him. "Let's get to your friend's house."

They were running now. "My friend's house? Were you spying on us?"

"I said I'll explain later! Now let's go!"
_______________________

Skylar's grandmother sat beside her on the couch just as the show's opening credits started. Tala was laying at their feet. Five minutes in, a news bulletin appeared on the screen.

The news broadcaster from the local T.V. station appeared on the screen. "We interrupt your show tonight to bring you this urgent news bulletin. What appeared to be a giant metal creature appeared at the apartment complex at 223 Greensdale Blvd."

Skylar's heart sank when she realized that was where Kai lived.

The reporter continued, "We have a tape from a lobby surveillance camera of the event that transpired." The screen cut to a black and white image of the lobby, with Kai waiting for the elevator. Suddenly, the screen shook violently as debris came flying from the left side of the screen. Kai bolted for the stairwell, and a few seconds after a large Tsurekin minotaur appeared from off screen and ran after him, knocking down any walls that got in its way.

Skylar gasped and jumped up. "Tala we gotta go help him." Skylar said running to the door. Tala ran next to her. She yanked the door open and jumped when she saw Kai and a woman behind him.

"Inside, now." The lady said pushing Kai inside and shutting the door. Tala growled low in her throat standing between Skylar and the lady.

"Call her off, I'm here to help." The lady said as she walked around looking at everything.

"She's ok." Kai said. Tala sat back and didn't say anything.

"Who are you?" Sky demanded.

"My names Ivy Stone." The lady replied. "I've been tracking the Tsurekin that attacked your friend and his Tsurekin today. Honestly he's lucky we got there when we did. Y'all Tsurekin are still babies. That other one is years old with many fights under it's belt."

"Ok, this doesn't explain why your here." Sky replied.

"Or how you knew about us." Kai said looking at her.

(Nice name you picked for her.)


"My Tsurekin was listening to your conversation with Alex earlier today, I know that Tsurikansen is after you. You should call your other friend and tell him to come over her as soon as he can."

"Wait, how do you know Alex?" Kai asked.

"Because he used to work for me."

"Wait, what? You used to be his boss?" Sky asked.

"I'll explain everything when your other friend gets here."


Skylar called Sean and told him to come over as fast as he could. By the time he showed up Skylar's grandmother had already made a pot of tea for everyone. Ivy sat on one couch, sipping a cup of tea. Kai, Skylar, and Sean all sat on the couch across from her. Skylar's grandmother was in the kitchen.

"The Tsurekin that came after you is called Taura, and his master is a man named Bulgar. After you rejected the offer to join the Tsurikansen he must have been sent to get rid of you."

"How do you know this?" Kai asked. "Are you with the Tsurikansen?"

"I used to be," she said. "Tsurikansen is led by a man named Jirran, and his Tsurekin Chimera. He used to be my second in command...before he challenged me for supremacy."


(Ask her any questions you think our characters might have, and I'll have her answer all of them in my next post. Be warned, though. My next post may be a long one.)

"And won, I'm guessing." Sky replied.

"Whether fairly or not, I don;t know." She replied.

"Alright, so what do you want with us? Why do they want to kill us, and what the hell is this about a storm?" Skylar demanded.


**Sorry, been a long day**

(No problem.)

She sighed and put her cup of tea down on the table next to her. "They don't want to kill you," she said, "they just want to defeat your Tsurekin. They want your Tsurekins' power, and because you refused to join them voluntarily they will now try to take it by force. Alex was right when he said only the strong would survive the storm, but this is not the way to do it."

"So, why did you help me back there?" Kai asked. "And for that matter, where's Ryukin?"

"I told my Tsurekin, Sahara, to take him someplace safe after the fight. He may not look it, but Sahara is much stronger than that beast that tore up the lobby of your apartment building. As for your first question, I need you three to help me stop the Tsurikansen. Jirran thinks that power alone will save him and his Tsurekin when the storm comes, but he is mistaken. The only way to save ourselves is if all Tsurekin stand together to combat the storm. If we let him continue to do what he is doing, our chances of surviving become smaller every day."

"What is this storm you keep referring to?" Sean asked.

"The storm is an event that happens every thousand years...when the five Tsurekin lords awaken."

They all looked at each other before Skylar asked, "What are these Tsurekin lords?"

"They are five colossi that created Tsurekin ten thousand years ago. Their appearances are different every time they awaken, and so are the appearances of all Tsurekin in the world. Their appearance reflect the era they are in, which is why your Tsurekin are made of metal. When the time comes close to their awakening, it is said that fate draws every Tsurekin in the world to one place."

Kai and Skylar looked at Sean. "That must be why Sean showed up the day after Sky and I found out about each other's Tsurekin."

Ivy nodded. "That is correct."

"Tell us more about these Tsurekin lords," Skylar said.

"The five Tsurekin lords are Zwolle the Basilisk, Hera the Sphinx, Lernae the Hydra, Draco the Dragon, and Simurgh the Phoenix. They are the biggest Tsurekin in existence. When they stand, their shadows cover even the tallest of buildings."

"And you say the only way to defeat these lords is with the combined power of every Tsurekin in the world?" Kai asked.

"That is part of it, yes. But in order to truly defeat them, the powers of their descendants are needed."

"Their descendants?" Kai asked.

"It is said that there are no two Tsurekin of the same animal species. A descendant of a Tsurekin lord is a Tsurekin that is the same animal as one of the lords."

"Wait," Kai said. "You said one of the lords was a dragon, right?"

"That is correct," Ivy said. "That means Ryukin, your Tsurekin, is the descendant of Draco the Dragon, just as my Tsurekin, Sahara, is the descendant of Hera the Sphinx."

"Ok, so how do we find the other desendents?" Skylar asked.

"We don't. They will find their way here. We just have to make sure we can get to them before they do." She replied.

"Alright, but I don't know if you've noticed but people tend to hide their Tsurekin."

"I understand. But after this one hits the news. I don't know how long that will last. There are two things that can happen. People start bringing their Tsurekins out into the light, or they hide them even more because the goverment could pose as a threat to them."



**I've nothing**

(No problem.)


"You said the owner of that Tsurekin is named Bulgar, right?" Kai asked.

Ivy nodded.

"Why would he tell his Tsurekin to come after me like that, even if it meant revealing the existence of his Tsurekin to the public?"

"Bulgar has always been bold and arrogant. He believes his Tsurekin to be strong enough to rival even Chimera, Jirran's Tsurekin. His Tsurekin may be strong, but it's nowhere near that strong. My guess is he wanted to show you the severity of the consequences of refusing the offer to join."

"Wait, what if he comes here and decides to destroy my grandmother's house?" Skylar asked with dread in her voice.

"Don't worry. As long as I am here, he will not attack. Neither will anyone else from Tsurikansen."

There was a knock on the back door. Skylar got up to see who it was. When she opened the door she saw Ryukin and and another Tsurekin waiting on the other side. The Tsurekin was obviously Sahara, Ivy's Tsurekin.

"Sahara filled me in on everything," Ryukin said. "It's hard to believe such things as the Tsurekin lords exist in this world."

"They do though, and we'll need all the help we can to make sure we can find the desendents and gather what Tsurekin we can." Ivy replied.

"I'm in." Kai said.

"If one of us is we all are." Sean replied. "Me and Rieky will find a way to help, even if he's just a monkey."

"Every Tsurekin is powerful in it's own way." Ivy replied. "And we need every one we can get to defeat them."

"So whats the next step. I don't see any Tsurekin falling out of the sky and through our roof." Skylar said getting up. "We can't wait here until they decide they want to send more then one in hopes of beating you and us."

"They won't."

"How can you be sure. This is all Gram has left and I'm not going to stake it over your gut feeling." Skylar replied getting defensive. She didn't know why, but she was really annoyed. Why was all this happening?


*Oy vey*

(Reiky's a she, by the way.)

Ivy sighed. "I understand how you feel. If it would make you feel safer about your grandmother's well being, you can all stay at my place. I have enough guest rooms for you all. I can even drive you all to school every day."

"I don't think I can leave Gram here all by herself," Skylar said.

"You don't have to decide right away. I'll give you time to think. But just know that they will come after you. If I'm not around to prevent it they may very well destroy this house just to get to you and Tala."

"I'll think about it," she said.

Sean scratched his head. "I'll need to ask my parents about this. I sure don't want my house to be knocked down by enemy Tsurekin."

"I'll go with you," Kai said.

Skylar and Sean both looked at him. "That was quick," Sean pointed out.

"They already struck my place. The owner of the apartment complex isn't happy with all the times I had to replace my balcony door because of Ryukin smashing into it, and from what Skylar told me about the news report on T.V. it won't be hard to figure out that thing was after me. If I go back, questions are going to be asked. The owner will probably kick me out, too."

"I understand," Ivy said. "I can send someone over to your apartment in the morning to pick up all your things." She looked at Sky and Sean. "I don't want to rush either of you, but I would like your answers by tomorrow."

"Like Sean said. We're a package deal. I'm in." Skylar sighed. She didn't like it, but she would stand by her friends.

"Guess I am too." Sean ran a hand through his hair. "Can we skip school though?" Skylar laughed.

"There isn't a need to and school is almost over for the year." Kai replied.

"Right. I can hope right." Sean smiled.

"I'm taking my bike." Skylar replied. "So they won't come after Gram just to get me to come out of hiding or anything?"

"We're not hiding, they just won't attack me." Ivy replied.

"Right. We are hiding. Behind you." Skylar walked to the kitchen and grabbed a soda.



(:S)

"I guess that's one way of putting it," she said. "I would like you all to pack what you can tonight and stay at my place, then we can come back in the morning for the rest." She turned to Kai and said, "As I said, I'll send someone to your apartment to retrieve everything for you. I know if you went yourself there would be...complications."

Kai nodded and said, "Thank you."

"I would like all of us to leave in one car," Ivy said.

"If you give me the address to your house I can drive all of us there," Sean said.

"I don't think all of our Tsurekin would be able to fit in the same car," she said. "Besides, I already have someone coming to pick us up." She went to the window and pulled a drape aside to look out. "Would you look at that, they're already here."

The rest of them went up to the window to see a black limo parked at the front of the house.

"A limo!" Skylar gawked. "Great." She turned and walked up to her room and threw her stuff in a bag. She walked back down the stairs and followed the other out the door and to the limo. She sat far away from Ivy with Tala laying her head on Skylar's lap.

"We'll stop at your house and then go to mine." Ivy said looking at Sean who nodded.

"How long have you known about us?" Sky demanded.

"A while."

"When were you planning on talking to us before that other Tsurekin attacked Kai and Ryukin?" She asked

"I was hoping to wait until you all finished your year at school, that way you could study for your exams and such without much distraction. But after Alex delivered Jirran's offer I know I would have to step in."

Sahara sat on the floor by Ivy's seat. He was like a well trained dog, sitting still without moving. He was like a sentry standing guard of his master. If you didn't know any better, you'd mistake him as a statue of some kind. Ryukin was kind of like that. In fact he, too, was sitting by Kai in the same manner, but he was a little more relaxed.

"Your Tsurekin doesn't seem to talk much," Kai said.

Ivy smiled. "You'll have to excuse him. He thinks of himself more as a bodyguard than a friend."

"Your safety is my priorety, Miss Stone," he said. Ivy simply smiled more and gave him a pat on the head.

She turned back to the others and said, "Once you have all settled in we can begin your training. I'm impressed how quickly you had figured out how Tsurekin gain power, having them spar together is a great way for them to get stronger. But there is much more to a Tsurekin's power than you know, and sparring alone will not unlock their full potential. If you want to be able to fight on par with the members of Tsurikansen, then you're going to have to use different methods of obtaining power."

"Like what?" Skylar asked.

"You'll see once the training starts. As I said, I would like you all to get settled in before we start thinking about that."

(Ivy lives in a huge mansion by the way. I'll get her to tell them her back story once they arrive.)

Skylar shut her mouth and just listened the rest of the ride. She wasn't sure she liked all this. They soon pulled to a stop and the door was opened. Sense she was the closest she slipped out of the limo and looked around fighting to keep from letting her jaw drop at the huge mansion in front of her.

"Wow." Tala said from her side as the others got out.

"This place is huge." Sean said as he stepped out and looked around.

"Room for everyone." Ivy replied.

"No doubt." Skylar replied.