Young Writers Society

Orion looked at the female centaur, but did not bow to her as she did to him.

"You show great respect, centaur, but you have not yet told me your name."

"It's Bella."

Orion turned around. "Of course--you are a shapeshifter. That is the reason for having such a human name." Then, he turned his head, and looked in contained anger at her, "I must say that you are trying to buy me. I hate that. Leave at once or else I'll give you to my friend here to bite."

Bella changed quickly into a tree. "Oh, but Orion! I want to be friends with you."

"I see you already know my name. Do you also know that centaurs have no friends?"

"I have been spying, you see..."

Senna drew closer to the tree and flashed her teeth. "Didn't you hear what he said?" After several seconds, the vampire tried to bite the tree, but nothing happened.

Then Orion approached Bella and said, "If you must, you can stay. But remember,I have no friends. If you want anything to do with me, it would be mere knowledge of each other."

"Fine." Bella said.

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Fine", said Senna, and Bella turned into a rabbit.

Krysi and Kayde strolled along the path in the forest, each silent. Their footsteps were even and matched, almost unheard excep for the ocasional crunch of a dead leaf or the snapping of a twig.

After a moment, Krysi stopped and put a hand on Kayde's chest to stop him too. He glanced at her, then snapped his head around to stare off into the surrounding trees.

"Can you hear them?" Krysi asked.

"Yes." Kayde answered. He paused for a moment. "A centuar, a shapeshifter, and another vampire, it seems." he said, giving Krysi a half smile.

"Well, lets go meet them then!" Krysi exclaimed and ran off into the bush.


*I'll post again either tomorrow after school or in homeroom, if i get a chance.*

Bella hopped around in rabbit form for a while, enjoying the different point of view. She stopped suddenly, pricking her ears up and listening.

"People approach," she warned the others. In mere seconds, a boy and a girl emerged from the trees.

"Hello!" the girl said excitedly, waving at Senna and Orion, but not seeing Bella. Bella hopped around behind the boy, who had yet to speak, and changed forms. She was a panther, something she had seen only once before. She purred and curled around the boys legs kindly. He stiffened.

"You must be the shapeshifter," he noted quietly, patting her head. "I'm Kayde. This is Krysi."

Senna looked them over,

"Well, it seems this has become a very popular spot." She said looking around, she didn't like all the people, one was a vampire. SHe could smell her. Orion shifted uncomfortable, he probably didn't like all the people any more then she did. They didn't seem to be of trouble, but they were still larger then two. Still there was more then two people around her, easier to spot. "Where are y'all headed too?" She drawled.

Name: Dagoon

Age: 368 years but, hey, who's counting?

Species: Gorman (sort of a yeti type deal, except they walk on all fours, and eat fresh meat. He's a carnivore.)

Appearance:About 12 feet tall if he stood on two legs, on all fours, about 8 and a half or so. Has red eyes and sharp claws. He is covered in coarse gray hair. Has the appearance of a gigantic sloth-ape.

Bio: Dagoon, Dag for short, has lived in the woods all his life. He was raised in the tree temple as all Gormans are. He tried to live in human society, but was rejected and hunted. He's lost his herd and is know a loner who is known to attack any moving thing in sight.

Dagoon swung from tree to tree, the large limbs groaning under his weight. This was Dag's normal path. He traveled this trail daily when he was hunting rabits. But today he was hunting something bigger. He smelled larger beings in the woods. Lots of them. They were coming to get him, to finish the job they had started all those years ago. He'd teach them to approach his turf with such nonchalance. He'd show them why no ever tells tales of the Gorman. Why no one ever came out of this wood alive.

He neared the clearing where the horrific beings were. He landed with a crunch on the ground, but because he was skilled with these matters, they didn't notice. He counted five, but there might be more. "Who cares?" He thought to himself," I'm a Gorman, I have no fear." He lunged into the clearing, hoping to kill these unwanted guests.

"What's that?" Krysi screamed the moment the large, hairy beast swung into view. Bella had heard it coming, and was totally prepared. She had taken the shape of a dragon (yes, she had seen a dragon before), and was ready for anything.

"What are you doing here?" she roared at the beast, which immediatly jumped at Senna, who was closest to it. Bella knocked the beast back with her tail.

"I could ask you the same question, seeing as you have just invaded MY forest!" he growled back, lunging again at Senna, and again being knocked backwards.

"Your forest?" Orion questioned, a dangerous tone in his voice.

"Yeah...any of you got a problem with it and I'll rip your head off. I doubt you stupid centaurs have been here all that long. The Gormans have been here since the beginning of time." He laid with his stomach on the ground.
"Look we don't want to hurt you." The shapeshifter replied.
"Then why are you here, to see the scenery? This is the BLACK FOREST. There nothing to see here. You're hunters. I can smell death all over you. You're here to kill me."
"Why won't you get it through your thick hairy skull. We aren't you ENEMIES." The centaur growled.
"Keep it up horse boy and you'll be known as the one legged centaur." The two woodlands creatures began to growl and argue.
"Men..." Krysi hung her head in disgust.

Bella was so infuriated by the sudden amount of arguing going on around her. Orion wasn't the problem; she understood that centaurs considered the forest they lived in to belong to them, it tied in with their deep roots with the earth. This other creature, however, was being completely and utterly pathetic. She brought down one of her large, clawed paws over him, pinning him to the ground none to gently, but still being sure not to permanantly damage him.

"What is your problem? We're not enemies, and we wouldn't even know you exist if you hadn't of barged in here, teeth barred. All we were doing was talking. You're welcome to join us, but it does no good for you to fight with us like this." Bella snapped angrilly, glaring down at the beast.

"You don't understand my life. You'd come in here too if you were a hated species. I used to be friends with those things called humans. I used to have family. And now I don't. So when you freaks come barging in here like you know these woods, for some reason, I thought you were here to KILL ME! Do you know how many times I've been chased?" Dagoon grabbed the dragons foot and pushed it up and moved it. "Do you know how many times I've been shot at?"
"We're like you then. We're freaks too." Orion grunted. "I wouldn't doubt that our hatred for the humans is equal."
"You're right." Bella nodded. "We'd be the perfect team."
"I guess I could work with you things." The gorman growled. "Just stay out of my way."

Senna was mad now, she didn't care if he was going to leave them be. She was no thing, and she wasn't about to stay out of anyone's way. She jumped out of the tree landing softly on the ground. Bella changed back into her normal form.

"THINGS?" Senna demanded, "I'm sorry, but we are not 'things'. These are not your woods, and the smell of death doesn't always mean we're to kill you." The gorman laughed, Senna glared at him. Part of her had wanted Bella to let him attack her so she could give him a nasty scar, but the other part knew he would've probably killed her. Bella glared at her, but she just shrugged it off. The sun was coming through the trees again so she slipped her hood on and frowned,

"We shouldn't bicker." Bella warned,

"Well then tell him not to call me or anyone else other then a humen a thing, AGAIN." Senna hissed, the gorman smelled bitter. She wrinkled up her nose at the smell. "Insults do not fly well with me, and I wouldn't be surprised if they don't fly well with anyone else. As long as he doesn't insult me I'll be fine."

Dagoon smiled inwardly. Maybe these people weren't so bad. They were a lot like him. "Fine. I can respect those who respect themselves. Now what the hell are we supposed to be doing now? Just stand around here?"
"Well, since mostly all of us hate humans we could go raid a town." Orion suggested. He trotted over to a flower patch and began grazing.
"No...lets do something bigger. Like form an army." Senna walked around the clearing, obviously still fuming over the arguement with the gorman.
"Well, that can all wait." Bella stared off into the forest with a look of horror in her eyes.
"Why?"
"Humans." Everyone looked up. A huge group of humans were charging straight toward them.
"We could kill them?"
"Sure." Dagoon roared. He was ready for anything.

"I need to feed anyways." Senna smiled, Bella seemed to shiver at that as did the others. The gorman almost laughed, they waited until the right time and charged the humens. Senna took a deep breath and picked out her victum knocking him out then attacking the others. She would pull him out of site of the others and feed after the fight. THe smell of blood was everywhere and her nosterals flared. She kept control as to keep from hurting any of the others. She ended up next to the gorman at one point. "I don't figure even in blood lust (Sorry, forgot what it was called) I would be able to harm you. So if you think I'm about to attack one of the others just knock me out, will ya?" He smiled,

"It'd be my pleasure." He killed a humen and she moved on. She held her breath towards the end, they were almost done, and the sooner the better.

***Wait a minute...Bella doesn't hate humans, and I'm pretty sure that Kayde is human...something about this just seems kinda screwed up to me....Anywho, on to the posting...***

Bella slinked back into the shadows as the oncoming humans approached. They were most likely from her village, and she didn't want to attack them. She jumped up, changing into a bird in the air, and flew high into the tree. Once she had determined that she was far enough up that she wouldn't have to be part of the fight, she changed back into a human, and settled herself upon the branch.

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As the fight came to an end, and the last of the humans died, Bella came down from the tree.

"Where were you?" the Gorman snapped when he saw her.

"What do you mean?" she snapped back.

"Well, I certainly didn't see you fighting."

"I try to avoid fighting if I can. And personally, I don't mind the humans. I've grown up with them, and lived as one since as long as I can remember. That may only be two years, but there is no memory in those two years that should cause me to hold any resentment towards anyone."

Slade almost laughed out loud about how easy it had been to get into this 'raiding party'. All he had done was slip in with the group. Now he and all the humans that surrounded him were running towards a group of 'things'. Instanty, Slade turned and killed the man next to him with a swift movement, hard to see unless your looking closely. It was a bad job of it, but it worked, and it tripped up just about everyone in the group.

They lay sprawled on the ground for a moment, but that was all the time they had left in the world when the misfit group got to them. Apparently he wasnt the only vampire. He looked to his left and saw the blood draining from a man, and a girl up close, almost looking as if they were kissing.
'Interesting' Slade thought.

"We'll meet back here in an hour. I'm gonna go find what I originally planned to do. Hunt." Dagoon swung off into the woods. "I can still have a normal day to day." He didn't intend to return. Why should he? What was the point? They had slaughtered those humans and they still expected him to stay?
"Yes we do." Dagoon roared and fell to the ground.
"Sorry monkey boy." Bella laughed. She had know taken the form of a fellow gorman.
"Shut up Bella, or do you expect me to change your form permanetly?" Dagoon got up and lunged unto his branch.
"You have to stay."
"And why should I? I mean, you don't need me." He spotted a rabbit below and dropped like a brick. He galloped after it an lunged. His teeth bit into it's neck, killing it instantly.
"Gross...and yes, we need you. Your 12 and a half feet tall and as strong as hell. You scare the crap out of anything we'd see."
"Yeah." Dagoon spat out words as he ripped the rabbit to shreds, eating each strip. "But I don't need you."
"What if we hadn't been here. What if we left before the humans. You'd be dead."
"True, but I don't normally go that way. Top that."
"Well they would of found you eventually. This forest isn't that big."
"Huh? You think this forest isn't big? Well, maybe the part you humans have mapped isn't but this forest is massive and ancient. These trees here are dwarves to the center trees. I'm leaving." Dagoon turned to leave. He paused for a moment."On second thought, you guys do need me. You wouldn't be able to do much without me."