Young Writers Society

Light sighed as his parents bid him farewell. Yelling wishing him well. He had his suitcase in one hand, a bag over his shoulder. He took a quick glance back at his parents and gave them the best smile he could.

Turning around again he watched as a cab began coming up the driveway. He quickly straightened his tie and stood up straight as the vehicle rolled up. Slowly he opened the door to see another girl inside.

She looked at him and gave a bashful hello. Light sighed again before giving a pitiful reply. He got in next to her and set his stuff down. He held out his hand, "Light Yagami."

Name: Alexus Storm

Age: 17

Skill: Fencing

Spell: Invisibility

Bio:
She keeps to herself and loves animals. Horses are her favorite, and her family had a full stable with around fifty horses that they raced. She was an only child of a rich familey, and as such is not very social. Her name is known by many, but she is not whom she appears, or acts. She has a cat named Mystery and a stallion named Rushing Wind, Wind for short. She learned how to speak little and observe much. She does not get anything below an A on all tests, no matter what, a perfectionist in every way.

Alexus stood in the barn, petting Wind and kissing his muzzle, tears in her eyes. She heard boots clicking on the barn floor.

"Alex, it's time to go." Her father's comanding voice called out.

"I don't want to leave. I like it here, with Wind and Mystery! And, why can't I just learn from private tutors?"

"Do you know how many students long to get into this school? It's a prestigous school, and well worth it. It was always your dream before."

She spun around eyes flashing. "No father, it was your dream."

His face turned red and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her out as she struggled against his strength. "You will go! Come now, the limo's waiting for you."

She gave up struggling. It was no use. She had to go anyways, might as well make the best of it. She hugged her mother good bye before being thrust into the car by her father. The driver didn't speak to her, nor did she expect him to. It was the way she was trained, the way that every girl of her social setting was trained. Be seen and not heard.

A faint meow sounded from her purse. "Shush! If I'm to sneak you in, you have to be quiet!" She whispered to her beloved cat, Mystery. "At least I'll have one friend in the school."

Laykin shook his hand--she didn't know they were stopping before heading to Arcadia, but she was definitely thankful for the company. "Laykin Miller."

She looked out the window. The cab driver still hadn't said a word, creepy. The trees passed by quickly, she didn't even know where they were anymore. She turned back to Light, "So, have you been to the school before?"

"Keep your eye on the target," the voice softly coaxed over Mandy's shoulder. "Steady...steady..."

She pulled the arrow back, shutting one eye. The target was 100 feet away. All she had to do was--

"You're dead."

Mandy dropped her arms, bow and arrow in seperate hands.

"Was I that slow?"

George put his hand on her shoulder. "It's not that you were that slow, it's that you weren't that fast."

Mandy sighed. Her family had been training her for the past 5 years to get into the Arcadia Academy. To be the best. To come out alive. And here it was, the day she was supposed to leave, and she wasn't performing the way she needed to be.

George squeezed Mandy's shoulder. "Don't worry too much about it. I know you can do better. It's just the nerves."

Mandy turned and faced George. He was tall with short blonde hair and green eyes. He was slim, but muscular. That was from all of the fight training he did. George was a premier trainer for the Arcadia Academy and Mandy had the privelage of having him teach her for the past five years.

"Thanks, but I think that fact makes it worse."

George laughed lightly, his voice making a small echo across the empty field. "Seriously, you'll be fine. You are a master at your art. And besides, I trained you."

Mandy sighed. She was nervous about going, but George was right. She was a master at her art. She would put out when she needed to. She had to.

George let go of her shoulder and looked at his watch. "It's a little early, but we'll head back to the house. I'll go untie the horses and you collect all of the arrows. And when we get back to the house, I'll get you something to eat before you leave."

Mandy nodded. "Sounds good."

George walked over to the trees where they had tied the horses up and she walked towards the target they had been practicing with. She bent down and picked up the first missed arrow. As she stood back up, she gazed at the giant field around her. Nothing but green, blue, and random bulls-eye targets for miles.

She turned around when she heard George's voice calling out to her.

"Why don't you try for target 35."

Mandy got wide-eyed. "Are you joking?"

George shook his head. "No, I'm serious. Try it."

Mandy took a deep breath. Target 35 was the farthest away and surrounded by obstacles to prevent your arrow from hitting it.

She shook her head in disbelief. There's no way I'm going to make that shot.

She raised her bow and the lined the arrow up with the target.

"Remember to stay relaxed and zone everything out. For the next five seconds it's only you and the target, starting... NOW!"

In a blink of an eye, Mandy had lined up the arrow and let it go, it zooming past rings and bushes, right into the center of the bulls-eye. She smiled brightly.

"That's my girl!" George shouted from behind her.

Maybe she did have a chance at coming out on top.

Cathy

I suddenly didn't know what to do. I had expected some sort of greeting, some sort of magnificent welcome but here I was, alone and staring up at my new home. Had they not anticipated that I would not await their cab? But weren't they supposed to be all knowing? Was the island really so easy to reach or had they allowed me to pass the magical barriers I had heard of?

Then it happened. I turned away from the Academy to glance out towards the dock and on the marble road, right in front of my eyes, appeared a cab. I stepped out of the way as it slowed to a halt and the door opened.

"Uh... hello?" I hesitated when the driver did not reply. There were others inside and I decided that it would be wise to climb in before he set off again. I did so and closed the door and just a few minutes later the cab pulled to a halt again.

"Do we get out here then?" One of the others asked.

Laykin Update:

Points--Total: 26, Used: 14

Current abilities--
fire bolt
lock picking
minor healing
speed
fencing
telekinesis
empathy
shape shifting
climbing
teleportation