Young Writers Society

Don't worry, you're doing fine.

Lydia

"Hey," I protested as the girl shook herself, scattering more water everywhere. "Don't do that. We can put the fire out just fine by ourselves."

"Put the fire out?" She asked, clearly confused. I nodded as William proceeded to collect his belongings and Lethero doused the flames.

"Yeah, we're moving camp to my cave so that we don't get struck by lightening. Not that we would mind, me being able to control light and all but I'd rather be nice and dry in my cave where I can hang my lights up."

"Oh."

"Not to worry though. Why don't you come with us? You look cold, are you cold? Of course you are. What's your name?"

Thanks. I think I'm understanding this whole thing now.

<<Ayra>>
She let a jagged slash of blue-black hair fall in front of her eyes, casting her face in a thin shadow.
"Ayra." she murmured, "That's my name."
Closing her eyes, she cast around with her mind, searching for the girl's second nature. She was clearly a Miokoda; slightly pointed ears, graceful movements.
Tiger.
The word whispered through her like a soft breeze and she relaxed. Tigers were good.

Upon opening her eyes, she saw the girl looking at her strangely. She shook her head. "Of course," she said with a hint of her usual arrogance, "I'll come with you."

Lydia

"Oh good, I do love company. I have company so rarely actually but then, I suppose that's what happens when you're on your own. How strange that a storm can bring three people my way. Now William, wasn't you going to tell us why you was pretending to be dead?" I said as I led the way through the small forest and towards the mountain that held many caves, including my own.

"There are lots of dangerous people in the forest and dangerous people don't tend to kill those who are already dead," William replied with a shrug.

"Oh. That sounds sensible I suppose. Come on, we're almost there. Just got to climb over these boulders now. Here, let me make some more lights."

"You live here?" Ayra asked sceptically as they reached a small cavern.

"That's right. Now where did I put that chest?"

"What chest?" Ayra sniggered, observing the empty cave.

"This one," I told her, manipulating the light so that it was visible.

(I thought my charater was in the cave with TN's? I'm so confused.)

Yeah, he is. Lethero and Sasquash's characters are with mine and Ayra now also in a cave and yours is with TN's.

*I think its a different cave.*

Yeah. Two caves. Lol. Sorry for the confusion...

(I'm back! Does everyone understand everything?)

<<Ayra>>
Shielding her eyes from the glare of the light, Ayra walked deeper into the cave. She could sense strong magic here, and she knew Lydia was the source.
"So," she ventured casually, "How much do you know about the Njorden armies?"
Lydia's eyes widened. "Not...very much." she admitted, then said enthusiastically, "Do you know anything about them?"
"Yes." Ayra replied, and her voice turned grave. She slumped against the wall and sighed before continuing, "They're about three days march from here...I'm not sure of their numbers, but they must be in the thousands."
Pain flared in her eyes and she winced. With slow, deliberate movements, she revealed the head of an arrow protruding from her ribcage. Her shirt was stained crimson.

Lydia

"Why have you left that in there?" I asked, shaking my head reproachfully. "Come on, you need to take it out or it will only burrow in deeper." The girl flinched as I took hold of the shaft and tugged down hard. And then she cried out in pain as the arrow came free.

"Stop moving," I lectured. "How can I heal it if you don't keep still?" The girl obeyed with a sullen glare as I laid a hand upon her arm and used a blend of my two magics to ease the pain and heal the wound.

"Where's the wood?" William asked, shivering a little.

"In the chest," I replied, "help yourself." I turned back to the girl and took hold of her shirt, gently pulling it over her head.

"Hey!" She protested as the boys looked the other way, both slightly crimson in the face. I rolled the shirt into a bundle, hurried to the entrance of the cave so I could soak it in the rain and then returned to clean the blood away from her flesh.

"Don't be silly, you couldn't possibly wear something so smothered in blood. You can choose one of my tops."

-Yay! You're back!-

<<Ayra>>

"Er...okay." she said, masking her gratitude behind a veil of unease. True, she was uneasy, but a new, clean shirt would be a welcome change from what she was used to.

Pain still throbbed from deep within her bones, and she had a nagging fear--the arrow had been poisoned. She remembered how the arrow had looked before it had hit her; it's black obsidian tip splashed with a sickly, transparent fluid. Shivering, she turned to face the wall.

Yeah =)

Lydia

"There, that looks better. What colour top would you like? I have a white one or there's this green one or a blue one. I bet the blue would really suit you. Hmm. Let me see, what else... I have some green ones or there's a beige, that's quite pretty or the pink or lavender. Do you like lavender at all?" I took the tops from the chest one at a time and laid them out before her. "Or I have some dresses if you'd rather have one of those and..."

"What do you need all these clothes for?" Ayra stared wildly as I pulled more out of the chest.

"I like variety," I told her.

"But you live out here on your own. No one's going to see what you look like..."

"I am. And I like to look nice. So which do you want?"

<<Ayra>>

"Umm...the blue one, please." she said quietly, twisting a strand of dar hair between her fingers.
tSar...
She shook her head to stop the tears from falling. tSar, the dragon she had befriended, had been captured as she fled from the Njordens. Don't think about that! she berated herself, biting her lip.

Once Lydia had given her the shirt, she pulled it on quickly. It felt soft and warm against her wind-slapped skin. She leaned against the wall again, blowing her hair off her forehead. She was exhausted.

Sleep came quickly, like a soft, dark blanket smothering her in welcome darkness. She slept the dreamless sleep of one who has no energy to think any more.

Morning came early the day after the storm. Hyral had given the girl his cloak for the night, but he couldn't sleep. he kept feeling like there was something out there. Sighing he stood up and stretched letting the cool crisp wind refresh him.

The girl stirred and slowly opened her eyes . Sitting up she help her head, "Feels like I was hit my a wild horse."

"Could have been." He helped her to her feet. "We should get out of here."

Sina nodded standing up. "Thank you for letting me use your cloak." She said handing it back to him. He nodded and they headed out of the cave. Wolf followed close to her side not letting her out of his site. She looked around as he moved quickly through the woods. Voices soon reached her ears. Hyral stopped too having heard them.

"Keep quiet, it could be trouble." He said almost to quiet to hear. She nodded and quietly walked behind him not making a noise. The hair on the back of Wolf's neck was standing up but she petted it back shaking her head,

Anyone is welcome to bring me in. I don't know how to come in...