Young Writers Society

Hey, can I make a second character? I want to make a boy that follows behind the group, never really approaching them but is pretty much always found by looking behind them. He'll have his own reasons for following them, I just want to know if that's okay to make.

Feel free to Blue! The more [secrets], the merrier! =D

Name: Lizard Boy (Real name: Thrent, but he rarely goes by it or tells anyone)

Age: 14

Gender: Male

Rank/Roll: Wanderer/orphan

Appearance: he's a scrawny, sunburnt, wild looking boy. his hair is bleached from exposure to the sun, and his skin is either red and peeling or extremely dark, like an extreme tan. he has few muscles, and is barely flesh over bones. He wears only a torn pair of shorts, held up to his waist by a length of frayed rope. His sandy hair is long and dirty, falling in his eyes unless he brushes it away. his dark eyes hold the look of a wild animal, and are either suspicious or wild. his exposed ribs are prominent, and he has many scars on his body, some long and deep, others small and barely noticeable. one of the most prominent runs across one eye, causing it to not be able to open fully from the warped healing around it. he switches from loping along on all fours and running on two legs.

Personality: He suffers from long periods of living alone in the desert. he has the mindset of an animal, and has almost forgotten how to speak to another human. He enjoys any type of lizard, and can be seen chasing them behind the army. He tags along behind them, the human part of him wanting both the company and a way out of the desert he's been living in for years. He thinks that if he follows them, eventually he'll find where he's supposed to be. he'll run away if one of the soldiers, shifters, or even one of the orphans approaches him, but if the weather is horrible or he is scared, he'll run up with the group for self-preservation, maybe slipping behind a tent for the night, or in, if the owner is willing to share or a deep enough sleeper for him to get away with it.

Strengths: he's fast, despite his scrawniness. His small size, too, allows him to get into places that others normally couldn't. He seems to not care about the sun, heat, or scorching sand, seeing as he's so adapted to it. he's the master of finding water and food, and has sticky fingers... though he tries not to steal from the army, he might get away with something once or twice. He has a certain affinity for lizards, especially the poisonous ones near oasises. Though they're his main source of food, he can usually be found with one on his shoulder or carried caringly in his hands. Lizards of any types tend to either ignore or be attracted to him, and won't attack him unless he gives them reason to.

Weaknesses: He's physically weak, and will loose if anyone takes him on head on. His affinity for lizards also means he won't attack them unless he plans to eat them, so if any huge lizards show up, he won't lift a finger to help against them. his lack of social skills cause him to be quite the target among pranksters and bullies.

History: He was born a spoiled and plump baby of a wealthy family, and lived that way, arrogant and self-superior, for eight years. Being an only child, he was the center of his parent's attention, and they kept him inside, away from much social contact outside of them. Without warning, the town they lived in was brutally attacked in a raid. His parents tried to get out of town with him, but they were both killed by the attackers. Thrent was afraid and didn't understand why his parents weren't getting up, why they weren't helping him get out of the ruined city. the plump 8-year-old stayed by his dead parent's side for days, weeks, even after everyone else abandoned the town. he refused to leave them even for food, and his weight fell quickly. eventually, after his parents began to decompose, he left. he found a bag of apples that the looters had missed, and he took that with him, eating them despite them being wrinkled and old. he stumbled through the desert with only his bag of apples, until he found an oasis. by now he was sunburned, his feet were blistered, and severely dehydrated. he collapsed by the water, managing to get in sips of water as he swung in and out of consciousness. when he woke up, he saw the oasis lizards, and was fascinated by them. He tried to keep a few, but they always came and went, and eventually he found them as a source of food. The next few years he lost the remainder of his chub, and his humanity was whittled away by the desert. the group of soldiers made him slightly remember being human, and he decided to follow them out of curiosity and a subconscious effort to regain his humanity.

Up For Love: sure, why not? but he'll be awkward about it, probably not knowing what he's doing.

Other: He has Post-traumatic stress syndrome, suppressing his past memories to the point he barely knows he had a past. He sometimes talks to himself, or refers to 'mommy' and 'daddy', though he can't remember who they are.

Elinia

It felt like I had barely been asleep when I was woken up again. The day had been aweful, and sleep- well, it hadn't come easily. Never in my life had I experienced losing half an army. We had lost many before, but never, not once, had we lost this amount. The whole camp was in shambles because of it, or it had been. Forlo had somehow managed to take charge, gotten the troups on their toes. When the Cloaks strike once, they'll strike again.

And losing half of your army (even if it wasn't under your watch at the time) is enough to keep you up sobbing all night. Sobbing when you should be letting your exhausted body sleep.

So, if I had spent so much more time awake then asleep, then why was I already awake again? I sighed, forcing dozens of unpleasant thoughts from my mind, and let my eyes slip shut again. This wasn't the time for restlessness.

But there it was again... the noise I assumed had woken me up earlier. Feet stomping? But... it was so distant. My exhausted mind let it pass. Probably just one of the troups... getting something. Yeah, that's it.

I had almost fallen back asleep when the shout came. Forlo? No. No, it was too gravelly to be Forlo. I blinked and flung my leggs over the side of the bed. A wave of dizziness hit me--hard, and it was all I could do not to fall backwards.

It passed quickly enough, and I was standing, sword already in hand. To be honest, it was like an extension of my arm. One second it would be on the other side of the room, the next it would be in my hand.

I paused, listening carefully. Another shout. Hoofbeats. I frowned. Hoofbeats? More shouts. No, these were screams. Screams, orders and hoofbeats. It took my brain a moment to process what was going on. We were under attack. I half-stumbled, half-ran to the tent entrance, throwing back the flap. Another headrush, a blackout even. What in Idoneus's name was wrong with me?

Flames rose, touching the sky. They had set the camp on fire? More screams, more shouts... My head was throbbing and my vision swam. A sudden confusion washed over me. I couldn't comprehend anything. We were under attack... that much I knew. But why?

"Elina!" It was Forlo's voice, but I hardly heard.

My eyes squeezed themselves shut. My head. Was. On. Fire. I just couldn't think. Sweat beaded at my temples. Was I trembling? I couldn't even tell. No wait... I wasn't. I was-- falling? My knees had buckled from under me, but I hadn't hit the ground. There was something around my throat, somebody behind me.

The sudden lack of oxygen only added to the fire in my head, and put some in my lungs. The edges of my vision were blurring. Why didn't anything make sense? I should be fighting back... but I just couldn't.

Ekki

What was that up ahead? I couldn't tell. Fire, that was it. Fire. Loads.

I shuddered, shivered, shuddered again. It's been too soon. I can still see the flames from Zarbson Village when I close my eyes- I don't need them outside my eyes as well. I can smell the same things; burning canvas and wood, thick, acrid smoke. I could hear the shouts, and suddenly they seemed to match the ones I'd heard much too recently. But they were all far away, which was better than it could have been. Very far away.

How long had it been since I'd eaten again? Half of dinner, the night of the raid. Then some fruits I'd found in the woods, some half burnt bread I'd grabbed from the dump behind a bakery. Scraps from a heap of garbage. Little creatures I'd cooked in the heat, here in the desert. So most recently... oui. I hadn't seen any berries or creatures of any sort since... since... two to four days ago. You'd think I'd be able to remember something that major, but now the days just blurred into one another. Night and day weren't night and day, they were the dark and light times; morning and evening were just the same.

I stumbled over my feet, tumbling forward into a dune. I shivered and struggled against the sand that had rapidly blown over me. There was too much... it was too heavy... I shivered and crawled forward, ducking my head. Maybe I couldn't walk, but I wasn't going to forget my drive now. I had to live, and I wasn't about to just give up to a bunch of sand. If I could survive this long on the bare minimum, I certainly wasn't going to lose to suffocation.

But where was I supposed to go from here?

Kirila

Get up

I turned over in my covers, pulling them in against me. Something big and warm was nearby, and I pulled it in. Warmth was good these cold, desert nights.

I said up.

"No." I mumbled into the pillow. something tickled my nose, but I didn't care. I was having the best sleep I'd had in a while, and that dumb voice wasn't going to ruin that for me.

Yes. We're under attack. And there's someone in your bed.

The second half caught my attention. the warm thing, the hair tickling my nose... I threw the covers up to reveal that orphan, the one that was always chasing lizards out by the oasis, illuminated by a flickering, orange light. My face flushed deeply when I realized I'd been cuddling the dirty child in my sleep.

"Out!" I barked, the boy's eyes opening suddenly as he twitched awake. I grabbed his arm, pulling him to the tent entrance, sweeping open the canvas door as I prepared to throw him into the sand-

and then yanked him back at the last second, out of the way of a galloping horse. Horse? Our army had no horses, none that I knew of, at least. My eyes lifted to see fire, lots and lots of fire. tents on fire, supplies on fire...

I told you we were under attack.

I pulled the boy behind me, sending him tripping back into my tent. "Stay here!" I barked,unsheathing my sword, which was always on me, even in sleep. After my kidnapping, I couldn't stand to be without it.

"We're under attack!" I screamed, running through the camp. I rattled tents, repeating my yelled warning to anyone, everyone. I made a sidelong attack at another attacker on horseback, but he was too fast, and I was slow from sleep and smoke. I saw a fallen figure ahead, someone being attacked. I lunged forward, sinking my sword into the attacker, barely realizing that I may be attacking one of my own. The man fell, his blood staining the sand, and there was a gasp from the person he'd been choking. Was it...

"Miss Elinia." I pulled her up, maybe a bit rougher than I should have, but there was no time for gentleness now. "You okay now?"

Angel

Noise, distant, but still noise, was ringing through my ears. The noise became close, then distant, then close again.

"Up."

I groaned.

"I said up! Stupid Nesersadian."

Under the voices breath I heard something along the lines of 'Should have stayed in your own country, you wouldn't be involved in this...' Wait... who was in my tent? No one went in my tent without my permission. No one who respected me at least. I fluttered my eyes open to see a tall dark fully armored man standing in my tent, the tent flap fully open, and fire ablaze outside. He was not one of our own, and we were under attack.

"Get away from me!" I screamed trying to run around him. He swiped at me, missing me by a hair's width. The wall of the tent ripped, exposing the rampage and horror outside. He swung again and I dove between his legs, exiting the tent and running, anywhere. I needed to get away.

Auren

There was smoke and fire everywhere. I had no clue where it came from, but it had made its way to an abandonned building that I had used to sleep in. It didn't wake me up right away. In fact, the fire would have just killed me in my sleep if it wasn't for the shouting outside. It sounded like someone was giving orders. Maybe there was a fight outside. If there was, I wasn't in a very good position. It sounded close. Too close.

I heard a loud snap from above me and I instinctively activated my skill. All the fire seemed to slow to a very slight flicker. I glanced up and I saw the source of the snap. A large flaming board that would have killed me if it wasn't for my skill. I crawled out from its path and my skill deactivated and the board landed behind me with a loud crash. I had to get out, but I was having trouble remembering where the entrance was.

I knew from my normal habits that I normally kept an escape route nearby when I went to sleep, so I just started to crawl forward hoping to find it intact. Or at all. I listened for the shouts to keep me moving in that general direction. It seemed to work since I was on the cold pavement in no time. I coughed and struggled up to my feet. That was too close, but I wasn't out of trouble yet.

"Hey, you!" A man right in front of me. A soldier from the looks of it, but I couldn't really tell for sure. I had no strength to outrun him and I knew that if I used my skill, it would be the last time for the day. There was no other way. The soldier was approaching me. I had to get out of the area before I was caught. I activated my skill.

The man seemed to stop in his tracks. I took the time I had made to bolt to the nearest allyway away from the burning building and I ducked into the shadows. My skill was used up and I felt completely drained. I collapsed behind a dumpster and fell back to sleep. My strength was gone. I had tried, and if it wasn't enough, then I guess that was that.

Elinia

I gulped air, trying not to lean on Kirila. Why did I feel like falling over? Lack of air flowing through my lungs perhaps? And did she just ask me if I was alright? She did, didn't she? Oh for the love of Idoneus, how was I supposed to answer that? No, your general feels like falling flat on her face, dead. Please let me do so. Then maybe leave me to rot here, too. My dead body will be too tired to be buried. If that makes sense to you.

My vision swam again, and I blinked a few times to no avail. "Where'd Forlo get to?" I hissed, noting that my voice trembled. Another headrush, followed by the strong urge to vomit. I swallowed and tried to breathe evently. "Order the troups to retreat," I mumbled. "We don't... need a repeat of what happened to the others."

My knees wanted to buckle from under me. My whole body was trembling, and I still couldn't see straight. Flames were easy to make out, but everything else was a blur. The sounds slurred together, too. Metal against metal, screams, fire cracking... it was all the same.

Where was Forlo? He needed to get the troups to fall back. We needed out. Before we all died. And I needed to get out of here before I died.

"Nix that last bit, help me get out of here," I whispered, blinking again in another futile attempt to clear my vision. Were there soldiers rushing at us? What if there were? Well then, I was definately dead. Oh for the love of whatever it is people love, I could not die tonight.

But what if I did die? What would happen then?

"Elinia?" I shook my head. Was that Forlo? I blinked a few more times, hardly able to make out his features before everything went tippy and blurred up again. More urgently, "What's going on over here?!"

I didn't answer. Instead I muttered, "Go... go tell the troups to ret-retreat." Now, the question was, could he actually have made any of that out? I probably sounding like I had drunken a barrel of rum, and then moved on to finish off a few dozen litres of whiskey. I felt like it, too.

I needed to get out of here. Nobody else had come rushing us yet, but chances were they would soon. What's better than saying you got to take down your enemy's general because she was suddenly enable to fight back?

Rilian

Rilian swore as he ducked another attack from a faceless enemy. He fell to his knees and scrambled away from his attacker before any more damage could be dealt. Face dripping with sweat, Rilian lunged toward where his bow and quiver were lying helplessly on the group. The second the supple leather of the quiver touched Rilian's palm, Rilian sprung off of the ground and was weaving his way away from the thick of the battle. Rilian swore again, casting a dirty look behind him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rilian spotted a large rock that was large enough to hide him from view. Rilian grunted as he dove toward the small amount of safety that the rock provided. Rilian strung his bow carefully as he peeked out from his hiding place to take a look at the ruined camp behind him.

Rilian's eyes landed on two figures stumbling around the edges of the battle. Rilian squinted toward them, trying to see who they were. One of them looked injured, but the smoke was too thick for Rilian to tell. Rilian tightened his grip on his bow and ran darted toward them.

As Rilian drew nearer, he was shocked to see Elinia leaning heavily on Kirila. Rilian swore loudly, for the umpteenth time that evening. "Elinia?" he shouted, hurrying toward the pair. Elinia looked up at him blearily, but Rilian was fairly sure she didn't recognize him. Rilian turned toward Kirila. "What's going on over here?!"

Kirila opened her mouth to reply, but Elinia mumbled something softly. In the noise of the battle, Rilian could barely hear her. By the time Rilian realized Elinia was speaking, he was just able to catch the last word.

"Retreat?" he repeated, looking up at Kirila for conformation. "Did she say retreat?" She pursed her lips for a moment and gave a sharp nod. Rilian swore softly, then motioned to his hiding rock, which looked like a foggy shapeless mass through all the smoke.

"Try to make it to the rock over there. It's relatively protected."

Rilian looked at Elinia, who seemed on the verge of passing out. "Elinia?" he said slowly and loudly. Rilian didn't know how well she could hear. "This is Rilian. I'm going to find Forlo. He'll give the order to retreat, okay?"

**Tell me if I need to change something.

Angel

My ribs burst into flame and nausea consumed me. I wasn't out of camp yet. I needed to get out of camp. Flames felt like they were snacking up my legs, and into my ribs, but when I looked down I saw nothing. Literally, my vision was blurring out. I collapsed on the ground and stared blankly at the blurred image that should have been my hand hovering over my face.

"Help..." I tried to scream for help, but my throat was ram shacked by a horrible drought. A horse ran by, then I heard it come to a swift stop. Boots hit the ground, sending dirt into my face. I was too weak to brush it away. My hand fell to my side, as I attempted to look up.

I couldn't see who it was, I prayed silently that it was one of our own. But we had no horses. So my wishes were little to none in this case. A dark, blurry, gloved hand lifted me from the ground by the collar of my dress.
"There you are Neseradian."

Ekki

I coughed, doubling over. My head was out of the sand, but only barely. The rest of my body couldn't fight against the weight. How could I lift small children around all day for years and not break through sand? I didn't know. All I knew was that I had to get to the oasis, burning or not. I couldn't go much longer. I pulled myself forward another length and pushed off with my toes, slipping and getting more sand in my hair. I was fairly certain it was matted worse than a stray's by now.

I strained to see through the grains. The inferno still blazed, and some figures were clustered together. But I couldn't focus on that, not when awful, entirely too graphic images were starting to encroach. Focus on the damp bluff behind it. Where the flames can't lick. I took another few lurches, stand sifting off me with a soft sigh. I'd never felt more shady. Like I was trying to invade, when all I wanted to do was get to someplace where I could eat, drink, and find a reason to live. I didn't want to give life up just yet, but I didn't have much to live for before. If I had nothing... what reason did I have now?

I was janked.

I inched forward. The sand was getting damper now, maybe I wouldn't have to go as far as I thought. Something slithered across my leg, and I jolted forward basically a yard. Sand was my biggest problem? Puhlease. Snakes. Lizards. Beetles. Other disgusting, creepy, brainless creatures. I kept moving faster, even though the numb gnawing in my stomach was knotting over itself now. Not a pleasant feeling. At least the nausea hadn't struck.

Yet.

Kirila

Elinia was mumbling something, and I had to put my face right next to hers to make it out. Retreat? No, she nixed that. She wanted me to help her out of camp. I almost protested; my years of training weren't going to be wasted this night! But she was so weak... And she'd be of no use dead.

"Forlo...?" Elinia mumbled as Rilian ran over. Man, she really was out of it. I tried to explain to him what was going on, but Elinia took care of that. I gave my confirmation, a bit miffed at being cut off by a half-unconscious person, even if she was my superior. And now even Rilian was giving me orders! Well, help, but those were basically the same thing. I made my work of dragging my general through camp, headed to the rock Rilian had told me. I kept having to drag her over fallen people who I couldn't help just yet, and she had basically given up on standing. I could tell she was trying to help, because every so often she'd attempt to move her legs or support herself, but it did little.

"Just relax, I'm gonna get you nice and hidden. Then I have to go back." I kept telling her. She seemed to nod.

The rock was just a few meters away. The majority of the burnt camp was behind us, and we were nearly home-free. but then-

"'Ey! Nesersadian! where do 'ya think you an' your friend are gettin' to?"

I turned, shifting Elinia onto my other arm as I held my sword between him and us. No doubt I could defeat him on a normal day. but I was tired from dragging my general, lightheaded from smoke and to top it off I had to keep him from killing Elinia during the fight.

Idoneus, help me now...

Rishima Astyrian:

The hooded figure met me in a tent. Sounded bad, I knew it did. But it was the truth. I had been pacing, hiding from the fire eating up our tents. At first we just stared at each other, the man trying to see me through the shadows I used to cloak my face.

"Get rid of General Elinia," was all he said before throwing a well aimed kick at me and racing from the tent.

The kick had connected, sending me to the ground.I just lay there for a moment, staring up at the tent as it caught fire, all signs of shadow gone. My leg hurt, badly. Groaning, I sat up and reached for my sword, wrapping the shadows back around me. Better than nothing. Finally, I got up and limped out of the tent, glancing towards the far side of camp. That wasn't good.

"Captain Rishima!" someone yelled. "Where are you? Get into the trees and find General Elinia!"

I followed the sound of the voice, slowly, and found one of our soldiers. I dropped the shadows. The figure pointed behind it and I followed, coming across General Elinia, Kirila and an enemy soldier. I hesitated, hiding behind a tree and dragging the shadows back. Slowly, I snuck up and thrust my sword into his back. Kirila yelped when the blade exited his chest. I had no problems with killing him, even if he was an enemy I was playing traitor for... As I pulled the sword free, I dropped the shadows.

"Go help Forlo!" I hissed, "I'll look after General Elinia." Kirila hesitated, eying me. "Go!" I urged and watched as she ran off.

Once I was alone with Elinia, I hesitated, looking down at her. I was debating how to kill her. Make it look like an accident? Make it look like the enemy did it? How, how, how. And then she screamed, startling me. I dropped my sword and stared at her. I had to cover my ears, she was that loud. And then she just disappeared. Oh gods. Now what had happened?

Elinia

Whoever had been standing in front of us was now flat on the ground, dead. Or maybe he was just sleeping... I mentally slapped myself. Sleeping? No, he was definitely dead. Somebody mumbled something, and then more mumbling, and then Kirila was gone. Where to, only Idoneus knows. I didn't care much at this point, though.

No, I was a little too busy trying to stop the ringing in my ears, my swimming vision and the pain that was creeping up my spine. Intense pain. Pain that kept getting worse, and then worse still; and then it wasn't just in my spine, it was in my lungs, too, and my legs and arms and head and every other bit of me.

The ringing in my ears grew so loud it drowned out every other sound. No more crackling fire or shouts or screams or swords... just this extremely irritating, highpitched riiiiiiing. Ringing and pain that made me want to vomit everywhere. Vomit and scream, but something wasn't letting me get it out. Probably because I was too busy gasping for air to get one out.

I brought my arms up to my chest, body trembling violently. Fire and needles and stones and knives all at once. My knees were about to buckle, I could feel them going. I screamed, finally I screamed, and then for four seconds all I could see was white, strange considering my eyes were closed.

The pain disappeared almost as quickly as it had come, and my eyes opened to... more white. I closed my eyes again and shook my head, frowning when noises started to return.

Not normal noises, mind you. Whooshing, beeping, laughing, irritating dinging. A loud squeal had my eyes opened, face to face with metal. I scrambled to my feet, ignoring a few angry shouts and stared at the... whatever it was. Rubber, glass, metal all in one, and they were everywhere. Moving on their own accord, carrying one or two or a whole group of people.

"What the hell're you doing lady!?"

I spun around to see a man leaning out of an opening in the side of one of the metal bug-things, which was stopped and holding up a line of even more whatever-they-weres. He waved in what I guessed to be a gesture to pass and I stumbled forward, catching myself on a brick wall.

Dread started to set in a little too late. Where in Idoneus's name was I?