Young Writers Society

"Great," Lorcan said. The hand that was holding Juniper was shaking. He hoped she couldn't feel it, and he hoped Princess Rose was just as oblivious. He was terrified. The last time he had ended up another world was when he had ended up on Earth. That time he had Hero and Second with him, and they had been lucky enough to end up near someone who understand where they were from. But here? Here he was clueless. He had no idea what this world's people were truly like, and Princess Rose and Ryder didn't give him the same sense of comfort Charlotte had, even when they had been complete strangers to each other.


Maahes grinned as she rubbed his hair. It felt good. Odris never did it to him, but he had seen some of the kids in the streets get their heads rubbed like that, and had felt it once or twice when he had taken on the guise of an Alteran child during one of his many attempts to run away.

He reined the grin back, because he had suddenly realized it wasn't really a scholarly or diplomatic sort of grin. But he still kept smiling - he really did enjoying the feeling.

"I like you too," he seriously informed her.

Then he turned to look at the man who had talked to him, and saw that it was the furry man from before. Maahes studied him for a few second to try to figure out what exactly he was, but eventually gave up like he had with everyone else present.

"I'm doing very good," he answered. His gaze traveled to the tail swishing behind him. The others hadn't taken him touching them that well, but Siren had! She had even said that she liked him. So if it was alright with her, it must have been alright with at least another person. He reached a hand and grabbed onto his tail. He didn't tug on it. That would be rude. He did, however, rub his hands down it. The fur felt nice. Really nice. He let himself smile again, but didn't let it grow as big as he had initially let his smile grow when he touched Siren's fins.

He looked over his shoulder at Ryder. "What's a flugel?" he asked, the word sounding funny as it left his mouth.

Tamika spluttered at the bow, climbing her way out of the river. She stepped back from the group, feeling overwhelmed.

"N- no, I'm not- that's-" she waved her hands around, "okay, sure, yes, I'm a bird!"

With an abrupt turn of the heel, she went over to a rock that she was warmed by the sun peeking through the trees. Wasting no time, she sloughed off the heavy, water-logged robes. Thankfully, she had worn her clothes underneath: a simple pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt with holes cut in the back for her wings.

Her wings spread wide, and she shook out some of the water with a few powerful flaps. Wincing, she reached a hand behind her and pressed it to the base of the back, where a small pattern of small black feathers created an X pattern. It burned, and she hoped that it wasn't because Sevy, wherever he was, was in danger. They had never quite figured out the rhyme or reason of the aches and tingles.

I can't beat my curiosity watching the angel walk over to the sun shined rock. She pulls off her clothes and a small blush comes to my face and I turn, pretending I wasn't watching her. After her clothes are laid on the rock I walk over to her, not wanting to be like the man.
"May I touch your wings? I've never met an aerial being, especially not an angel. In my home there is mainly just water, and no airborne creatures. "

Tamika turned as the girl approached. She was lost in her thoughts for a moment before realizing that she had been asked a question.

"Oh- um, alright." she turned and offered her outstretched wings to the girl, "please be gentle." she added quietly, aware of the slight burning that hadn't quite left.

Exactly what he'd expected. Zech turned back to watch Maahes grab onto his tail. If he was this entertained, he hopefully wouldn't bother anyone else. Then again, Maahes seemed to have an absurdly short attention span.

"Do you like it?" Zech said. The tiger reached up and tugged one of his own ears. "I also have these."

I gently stroke the wings, the texture so different to anything I'm used to.
"What are they.. Made of?" I ask the question awkwardly. A princess should never embarrass herself this way, but I couldn't help but ask the question.

His face lit up, then immediately grew somber when he remembered that he was supposed to be diplomatic and professional. That sort of look wasn't all scholarly, so it wasn't good right now! A little smile was okay, though. He gave the furry man it instead of his first grin. "I like it," he confirmed, nodding his head. He liked it a lot.

He studied the ears for a moment, then hesitantly went to squeeze them like he had with Princess - even though the furry man was letting him touch the ears, he was really worried he was going to hurt him too.

She tilted her head and craned her neck to look back at the girl.

"Um... feathers?" She plucked up one that was resting on her shoulder and held it up for her to inspect, not sure how much knowledge she had of this.

Zech grimaced a bit as the man tugged at his ear. Well, more like a gentle pull. Much better than the alternative.

"What's your name?" the tiger said, staring up into the man's childlike, innocent eyes. "And I'm guessing you've never seen someone like me before?" It would explain few things about the man's behavior. Not everything, but he'd met plenty of people who'd never seen a tiger before, much less a white one. This situation wouldn't be any different.

"My name's Maahes," he informed him, giving his ear one last squeeze before pulling his hand away. Now he was faced with the same problem as before: where was he supposed to put his hands? He usually had something to hold. Maybe his tablet stick, maybe a pile of old paper documents, or, back when he was first summoned, Odris' hand because he kept falling everyone and needed someone to guide him.

He let out a quiet sigh underneath his breath and resigned himself to putting them back in his pockets.

"I haven't seen anyone like you before," he confirmed with a nod of the head - just a slight one, because a too energetic one wouldn't be professional enough for this situation - and then he gestured at the others in the area around them. "I haven't seen anyone like them before, either."

Siren hopped over to the tiger man, blinking curiously.

"I've never seen a cat as big as you." she said. She sniffed him. "Where do you come from, Mr Cat?"

Ryder watched as the mermaid girl and the Flugel interacted. He frowned lightly. Flugels wouldn't react that way to their wings being touched. But that would imply that she wasn't one. Weird. He looked back as Maahes interacted with the tiger. They were definitely from another world. But the angel person...she admitted to being a bird. On top of that, there was no reaction to her wings being touched. He stepped over to the two.
"Uh, excuse me, but is it possible that you're not a Flugel?"



"Where did Ryder go..." Rose mumbled to herself as she paced about, waiting for him to return. She waited a few minutes more, before she decided to go after them.

She came across Maahes talking to the Tiger. Along with another, strange creature that looked like an aquarian but at the same time...not really. She gave a wave and a smile, noticing two others in the background. One looked like a Flugel, but as she listened closer, it seemed Ryder was doubtful of that fact.
"Hi! My name is Princess Rose!" she said excitedly -- while it may be true that the events were strange, it was always good to make a good first impression -- as she held out her hand towards the fish lady.
"What's yours?"

Tamika turned completely to asses this person. She frowned and folded her wings once again.

"I've never been referred to as that, no." She answered simply. Her head was starting to hurt, and on top of her circumstances, it was making her grumpy.

"Name's Zech. And I haven't seen anyone like these guys either." The tiger scanned his surroundings, focusing on the woman with oversized wings and the one with wide eyes and gills who had just hopped over to him.

Oh, she was talking to him.

"Not from around here," Zech said. It wasn't much of an answer, but he didn't know how to explain either the obscure, unnamed place he came from or the possibility that there might be other words. Fortunately, Rose's arrival gave him the chance to turn back to Maahes.

"So, what's your story?" the tiger said to Maahes. "You look like you're pretty excited about everything."

Juniper and Lorcan followed Princess Rose towards the river, both trying their best not to gasp in shock when they saw the bizarre array of people in front of them. Lorcan felt Juniper's gaze boring into him as she turned her attention away from the group assembled to him. He knew she was looking for some sort of explanation, but he had none to give. This wasn't like what he was used to. It defied all the knowledge he had received from both Earth and Minecraftia. How was he supposed to give her an answer when he didn't even know how they had gotten here?


Shoot! He had noticed that? Maahes briefly frowned, suddenly coming to the conclusion that maybe he hadn't been all that professional in this situation. "Well," he said, then paused and ran his fingers through his hair like Odris did, because he really didn't know what to say, "I've never been here before. And I'm a scholar and a diplomat, so I've got to have an open mind!"