Young Writers Society

Luna growled a bit as the girl, who smelled greatly of Pheonix, pulled out the arrows and tried to stop the bleeding. Once she was sure it was safe, she put what was left of her power into changing shape, hoping it would make it easier to heal her. Her shape shrunk and twisted until she was a human girl; her hair was long and created a blond halo around her head.

"Oh my," the healer muttered.

"A shapeshifter," The pheonix girl noted. "We should get her inside," she added.

"Yes, we can take her to my house," the healer decided, as the pheonix girl leaned down to lift Luna. Luna felt a sudden wave of fatigue and fell into exhaustian.

(Well, it would have made sense if Ryuoku was the wounded dragon, but it looks like writer_chick's shapeshifting character beat me to it. So, I'll have to think of another way to introduce my character, but not now because I don't have enough time.)

Julia

The dragon... or rather shapeshifter... seemed to be recovering fine and I turned to resume my wanderings. Something was wrong. The tree was gone. I know it sounds strange but the oak tree had completely vanished. I spent a moment contemplating this but was soon distracted by a sharp cry. I turned to find a man cringing on the ground, his hands raised in an attempt to ward off the blows of a wooden staff. Two others were already fleeing.

"Hey," I protested, walking through the cowering man to stand in front of him. The staff did not pause in it's arc but I phased through the wood and then the man seemed to realise I was there. He was tall, much taller than me and curly brown hair partially obscured a tanned face.

Ralo heard a massive crash and stopped in the middle of the street. Not far off a building had collapsed. He ran towards it to see if anyone was injured. A large crowd was gathering and a tall man with a quarterstaff was attacking a few people.

Ralo ran foreward and grasped his double bladed sword. When he reached the crowd he shouted at people to get out of the way. The tall man was now fighting three other men.

Ralo ran foreward and slipped his arms under the man's armpits, pulling up. The man's shoulders were in his clutches so he couldn't use his arms. Ralo attempted to pull him away...

Sonya stayed in the healers house, watching over the shapeshifter. On any other occasion, she would have left, but she wanted to ask her a few questions. She was curious.

A startled cry sounded a few blocks away, barley audible. Sonya ignored it and leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes, leaving only golden slits. The healer was bustling around the room, administering ointments to the wounds and having the girl drink some foul smelling liquid.

Sonya was suddenly seized by a horrible coughing fit. She doubled over, trying to get a breath. The healer looked up and came over, Sonya could not speak, but somehow managed to tell the healer she needed hot water. Sonya bent over, saliva and blood flecking her lips, her eyes closing tightly, and fists clenching in pain.

The healer brought a mug full of hot water, putting it on the table next to Sonya's chair. When she was finally to draw a quick, shuddering breath, Sonya reached to her belt and drew a small pouch. She dumped some of its contents into the mug and let them seep to the bottom. A bitter smell emanated from the mug, but Sonya grabbed the mug and brought to her lips with shaking hands. She drank deeply, reveling in the warmth of the liquid. Finally, she was able to sit up and draw a long, shaking breath.

"Are you alright?" the healer asked. She had gone back to administering to the other patient, seeing there was nothing she could do for Sonya.

"I am fine." Sonya answered weakly. Where did that come from? She had only had a coughing spasm that bad once before, nearly two years ago. Why was it happening again now? she wondered. She whipped the blood from her lips on the sleeve of her shirt. When she looked up again, the girl was staring at her.

"You seem better." Sonya remarked.

Tyrin

No man could best me. I had 116 years of training behind me and though my strength was not superhuman (in human form), I was still very strong. I leaned forward, pulling my ams inward. The man flipped over my head and fell to the ground. As he stood up, I realized who he was; I recognized him. The man then drew his sword pointing it menacingly at me...I lowered the quarterstaff.

Ralo shouted out to the man holding the quarterstaff at him now. "Settle down. Just walk away. What did these guys ever do to you. Just... Calm down." Sweat was rolling off Ralo's head as he spoke.

This man was obviously very strong. Mabye not even human. Whatever happened next was up to him. Ralo took a deep breath and clutched his sword tighter. Waiting...

Karana had been too bewildered to notice the whole event.

The dragon was a shapeshifter?! What was she doing here? Why was she here? What was she after, if anything at all? Would she live? Was she hunted? Could she be trusted?

Only the sound on Ralo giving orders to a stranger drew her attention. She looked up to see a man lowering a staff, Ralo's wicked sword brandished before him.

She stood up, taking a few arrows from her quiver, just in case, and approached them.

"What's going on here?" she inquired firmly, standing between them.

Ralo didn't take his eyes off of his opponent. "He attacked some men without warning." His eyes clearly read, he's not human.

Karana turned to the man, who strangely resembled a tree. "You care to explain, sir?"

A dragon sat at the edge of the forest just outside the village. He had been watching a fight between two men from afar. When the fight was over he said, "After all the years I have spent watching humans I still don't understand why they must always choose to fight."

Ryouku got up and approached the village, silently.

Tyrin

Karana turned to the man, who strangely resembled a tree. "You care to explain, sir?"

"No...I don't; but I was rash, and though they got much less than they deserved, they may go. After all, I did not start the fight; they did," They humans did not need to know anything, nor would they understand. They were foolish, and I did not expect them to understant. Trees ment nothing to them; they expended and burned them like one would trash. They did not understand, nor would ever...

Luna opened her eyes slowly, squinting at the light that poured through a nearby window. SHe heard someone coughing loudly and turned to see the girl, the one who had a reddish tinge, looking at her. The pheonix girl.

Once she had stopped coughing, she noticed that Luna was staring at her. "Hello," she muttered, still trying to clear her throat.

"Hi. Where am I?"

"At the healers house. I'm Sonya, by the way."

"I'm Luna. Why are you still here?"

Ralo gazed into the eyes of the man standing across from him. "So... Its over?" He asked, almost whispering. The tall man nodded and slowly walked away. Ralo sighed and sheathed his sword.

He turned around and helped the attacked men off the ground. Most were bewildered, others had questions that ralo simply ignored. He silently walked down the road again, the event still on his mind.

Who is this person? Were they human? I just hope its really over.

"I was curious to see why you were here." Sonya answered. She yawned and stretched her stiff limbs which were growing cold. She stood up and walked to the window.

"You're a phoenix...right?" Luna asked. Sonya spun around, grimacing.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked.

"No, not really." Luna said.

Sonya breathed a sigh of relief. She had no idea how this shapeshifter knew she was a phoenix. She didn't really care, as long as no one else noticed.


*thats all i've got.*

Julia

With the shapeshifter recovering and the fight over, the citizens began to drift back into their houses.

"How strange," I murmured. "That man was not human."

"Was he not?" A loud voice rumbled. Julia had thought herself to be relatively alone but turned to find a large dragon approaching the village.

"Hi there," Julia called with a smile.

"Hello," The dragon replied. "You say they weren't all humans?"

"Well I don't think so. The man with the staff was too strong and he reminded me of a dryad I met once. Brilliant creatures they are. They wander through our village from time to time."

"Through this village? Whatever for?"

"Oh," I gave a light hearted laugh, "not this village. I'm not a human. I come from a pixie village not far away. What brings you here?"

"I'm just passing through to watch the humans. Interesting creatures they are, though various rituals they perform still confuse me to this day." He thought for a moment and added, "But where are my manners? My name is Ryouku. What's yours?"

"Julia." She said with a smile.

"Well, I don't believe I've met a pixie before. Would you care to tell me a little about your kind?"