Young Writers Society

"If you'd like to come this way, sir," Daniel looked up at the man in white robes. "Your match is in ten minutes, sir."

"Which arena?" Daniel asked.

"Three, sir. If you'll just follow me." Daniel nodded and they wound their way through the crowd to a small area sectioned off where several other fighters were waiting, stretching and warming up.

"Your fight name is down as 'Falcon' do you want to make any changes to that?" Daniel shook his head.

"Do I get to know who I'm fighting?"

"Well I'm not supposed to say but..."

"Then don't," Daniel walked towards an empty corner of the square sectioned off and began to move through his warm up routine.

Alexus

The line was moving fast, everyone axious to fight and win, for glory and honor. I had no idea what I was doing here. I didn't belong. But it was too late now. I was here, and I would do my best. I bit my lip looking around at all the contestants. Excitement swirled around me. I moved forward with everyone else.

**I'll fight a random person unless someone wants to fight me.**

Velna-

Velna signed the sheet.

"You will be taken to your arena, you are one of the few that will be up first." The lady said, Velna nodded, she turned to the guy that was behind her.

"I guess I'll see you later." She smiled and walked off towards the arena. A short boy walked over.

"Follow me." He said, she listened, "Your under Dragon," He sounded like he didn't believe it. "Do you want that changed?"

"Just put Velna on it, please." She replied,

"Ok," He scribbled something on a note pad, Velna's thoughts were else where. If that guy wasn't going to battle would he watch her. ' I doubt it, plus Mamie would be really mad at you if she knew you were thinking about something other then the fight. she scorned herself. She walked into the arena and looked around, the person she was fighting wasn't there yet so she just leaned against the wall and waited.

BJ-

The blonde boy gave me a weird look in responce to my smile then walked away. I just shrugged and headed into the training room. My first match wouldn't be for a few hours, if things got held back it migh tnot even be until late afternoon, if i was lucky. I didn't feel like fighting today, it was just going to annoy me. But i would win, I had to, or i would bring dishonor blah blah shame, and various other unwnated things to the family name. It was days like this that i wish my mother was here. She would always be the one cheering me on from the sidelines not caring if i won or lost. I had only lost once come to think of it. My father did talk to me all night and my mother bought me ice cream. You can probably see the difference in parenting. My parents relationship is most likely the reason i don't believe in love. She died in a car accident, my mom, on the way to sign the divorce papers. My parents always fought, through my whole childhood. I was almost happy that they were separating. If she wouldn't have died then i would proabably have such a different, maybe better, life right now. These were things i though about as i pounded the crap out of a big black punch bag hanging from the ceiling. I just hit it harder as i brooded about my disfunctional childhood more.

Audra

I leapt down from my perch and strode coolly into the crowd, walking up to a desk.

"Audra: Bengal Tiger. Ring seven," the man informed me after giving my basic information.

I nodded. "Any idea who I'm fighting?"

"Just go wait at ring seven's door, please."

Whatever. I could tolerate the attitude; just save my wrath for my opponent. Let the shock of my abilities come later...when they least expected it.

"Now fighting in arena three are Falcon and..." the announcer frowned and leaned down to consult with a man beside him who shrugged. The announcer raised the microphone again. "Falcon will be opposing the winner." There was a round of laughter and banter as Daniel entered the arena and looked across at 'the winner' who was tall, broad shouldered and very confident.

"Shake hands with your opponent." Daniel stepped forward and 'the winner' smiled confidently as they shook hands.

"You should be proud to be my first opponent," the winner noted. Daniel said nothing.

"You may begin in three... two... one." The winner began to circle around the immobile Daniel.

"I'll make this quick," the winner claimed. He spread his arms out wide and roared at the ceiling, transforming into a large rhinocerous. He charged forward. Daniel withdrew his pole and sprang lightly into the air, landing upon the rhinocerous' head and calmly placing the pole back in the sheathe on his back.

"I could poke your eyes out with that if I wished," Daniel stated.

Velna-

Velna watched as a guy walked in the other half of the arena, he looked cocky and full of himself. She rolled her eyes as the annocer tested the mic out.

"Alright, Velna vs. The Lion," He called,

"This is going to be too easy." The guy laughed,

"Think as you wish." Velna replied walking towards the middle of the arena.

"Begin in three..two..one." The annocer said. The guy quickly changed into a lion and ran towards her. She jumped out of the way changing to her battle form, she wouldn't change into a dragon unless she had to. She watched as the lion circled around her, he batted a paw at her and she jumped to the side and then twisted around slamming her foot into his head. He jumped back and growled,

"May as well end this now." She smiled. She quickly changed into a dragon and she growled down at the lion. She smiled, well, if a dragon can smile she smiled as the lion's eyes bulged out. One roar and he slinked back then jumped towards her she batted him away with one claw, he hadn't been fighting very long. A good fighter no matter what their creature form was would be able to make this hard for her. A mouse could if they knew what they were doing and how to fight. But The Lion flew against the wall and stayed on the ground. Velna changed back to her human form and walked towards the exit as the annocer called the fight. There were maybe only one of two people in the bleachers, she couldn't see their faces, and hopefully they wouldn't all blab what she was. It might make it easier for her next fight if she fought someone who knew what they were doing.

Velna was on her way back to the waiting room when she heard someone say, "I haven't seen a dragon shapeshifter in a long time."

She turned to see a ninja leaning against the wall. That was the only word she could think of to describe the man, ninja. He wore black ninja armour and a mask that hid his mouth and nose. His eyes were closed, as if he was thinking.

"Is that supposed to be a complement?" she asked.

The man chuckled a little, then looked at her with his kitty-cat eyes. "I'm looking forward to fighting you in the finals."

"There's a lot of shapeshifters in this tournament, how do you know you'll make it to the finals?" Velna asked.

The man pushed himself off the wall and began walking away. "I just do."

"How do you know I will." She muttered to herself watching him leave. She chewed on the inside of her lip. Part of her told her to run after him and talk to him. She wanted to know someone around here. The other part told her not to, that to do that would hinder her fighting. The first won out, "Have you fought yet?" She called after him.

Good job, your the best socializer here. a voice laughed at her.

Shut up, I haven't been around people in-in-uh, a while. She hissed back at it.

BJ-

I won my first match, great! Not, because i knew how much more i had left to go before this would all be over. I stepped into the hot shower soaking up the steam. I hadn't had to do much to defeat the guy i fought, but i dd get a pretty nasty scratch across my right shoulder blade, which cost me major points with the judges, especially my father. It was painfull but i let the water wash away all of the blood from the three gashed until it was clean. THen i filled my mouth with water and spit a crimson color back out, I hadn't even noticed my split lip. Unlike many other competetors I couldn't heal fast, and my only special attributes were being able to make more of my and reading apponent's minds. Sure the mind reading helped, i could tell what my opponenet's next move was, but it didn't always work. And whenever i multiplied myself my energy and power was split up between mymultiples ultimatly making us all weak.
I stepped out of the shower and my phone started to ring. I checked the number then slid it upwards and said, "Hello?" already knowing who it was.
"BJ!" Falk's sad yet energetic voice shouted into my ear making me feel like i was falling into a black pit of despair, "Hey baby." He said quieter.
"Falk, you know my dad will pretty much have a cow if he finds out that you called me, right?"
"I know, but i had to talk to you." Falk had, key word HAD, been my boyfriend until my dad decided he was too much of a distraction. So we were no longer allowed to see each other.
"What do you want?" I said half annoyed.
"For you to come open this impenetrable window, ouch!" Then the line went dead. I wrapped my towel around me tighter and walked over to the window.

I'm going to be stepping out of this one, guys. I can't keep up. Sorry!

-Mays

(I have a question, these fights right now are the preliminaries, right? So the arenas are just simple rings like in a wrestling match I take it. Once the real fights begin will we be able to fight in environments best suited for our style of fighting?)

(By the way, Kage is pronounced properly in Japanese grammar, not English. Meaning it sounds like Ka-gay, not cage.)

Velna heard one of the announcers voices on one of the TVs in the waiting room. "Ladies and gentlemen, the next fight is starting in arena four. The fighters are Kage vs. Caim the Killer."

The next match is starting, Velna thought, and it was a good thing, too. She had already made a fool of herself, she didn't want to embarrass herself any further. When she pushed her way through the crowd she saw the man she met in the hallway in the ring. So, his name is Kage?

----------

Kage looked around the arena. It was just a normal caged ring. There was nothing he could use to conceal himself, meaning he couldn't play with his opponent before he finished him. This fight is going to be boring, he thought.

His opponent shifted into a werewolf as soon as the battle started. Caim the Killer pointed at Kage with his furry hand. "You're going down!"

"Only a fool would reveal his true form so soon during battle," Kage said. "A real warrior doesn't need his animal form to win a fight."

"Shut up!" Caim started running toward Kage, using both his arms and legs.

As Kage drew the sword on his back he remembered the tournament's most important rule. No killing, he thought.

Caim lifted his arm as he approached, preparing to deliver a devastating punch. One moment Kage was standing, sword in hand, then there was a blur of movement and he was behind his opponent. Caim slowed his pace until he stopped moving. His eyes were wide with fear.

"You lose," Kage announced as he begun to sheath his sword. As soon as his sword clicked into place in its sheathe a fresh cut opened all the way up Caim's back, spraying blood across the ground. The werewolf let out a painful howl before collapsing.

Kage turned to his opponent and said, "The wound isn't life-threatening, I avoided hitting any of your vital spots."

The announcer yelled into his microphone, "It's a one-hit K.O., people! Kage wins!"

"Kage wins!" the announcer shouted. "What a decisive victory!"

Right now, though, my biggest concern was a pounding headache. My "sixth sense" was working overtime, which meant I had to put up with pain and tingling down my spine.

"Anye?" someone asked. "Are you all right?"

I groaned. "Head... Can feel them all."

The attendant hustled me out of the arena. I slumped against a metal rail, wracked by fierce pain. It ebbed a little as I looked around. Good.

It's my fault, really. I should have told them about that. Vaguely I heard them announcing the next fight. I blocked it out.

"...two-time champion in the Minor Leagues, Anye!" I gasped.

Velna-

Velna watched the fight her eyes growing wide at the site. He was going to make it to the finals, and he was going to be hard to beat if she ever fought him.

Course now everyone knows what you are, they just don't know how well you fight in dragon form and out of dragon form. a voice in her head laughed. She ignored it, she started back towards her room. The sooner she got away from people, the less likely she was to make a fool out of herself. She chewed on her lip and looked around.

Good job, you got lost! the voice yelled.

GET OUT OF MY HEAD! She screamed back. The voice hadn't shown up until her trainer had died. She walked back towards the entrance of the area looking around.

Daniel

"Stop fooling around and fight me!" the winner groaned.

"That's quite a useful skill," Daniel stated. "It's not every fighter that can speak in their animal form."

"And you should be proud to have witnessed it!" The rhinocerous began to toss its head fiercely from side to side. Daniel was thrown out of his position but able to reclaim his ballance and landed gracefully.

"A cat are you?" the winner smirked.

"Guess again," Daniel replied, darting forward and using the pole to propell himself against the beast at a greater speed. His feet touched the tough, leathery skin and then he flipped, landing back on the ground as the winner stumbled.

"Is that all you have?" the winner demanded.

"No," Daniel replied simply. He drew his sword and as the rhinocerous charged towards him, he held it out in front of his body and then side stepped, allowing the creature to impale itself on the weapon with its own strength. The winner collapsed and roared in pain.

"The winner is Falcon," the announcer declared.