Young Writers Society

Rayden looked around for the pebble - he had been watching its progress for some time; but what with lovey-dovey talks and melancholy/non-melancholy looks, he'd quite forgotten about it.

Someone tossed something in the air, and he turned to look at Lex, who was toying with the pebble behind Kiran's back. He started to smile at him, but then - smack!

He'd run into a tree. mjdnfjvnih the gods of hell had chosen this particular day for running their entertainment show. Someone called out if he was alright, and he replied (amidst amused smiles) with a 'yeah, yeah' but it was his pride that was really hurt. Goodbye, confidence.

It was the forest. There were no freaking trees in the concrete mazes of Zhakia. Rayden wanted to punch something, preferably a tree, (like Helenah had), but refrainedfrom doing so. He made it a point not to show his anger. The last time it had happened - oh no, he was not going down that lane again. Once in a day was quite enough, thank you very much.

Helenah looked around. "Date-mate." she mumbled. She got a sudden vision of Lula - her pet cat who died just a few months ago. Lula and Helenah had been very close buddies. I was Ruby, Lula and Helenah all the time. But now, it's just Ruby and Helenah.

But she guessed a dead date-mate wouldn't count. Let alone an animal date-mate. No one here would understand her relationship with animals.

"There is thins one boy." Helenah spoke up. "His name is Rider. Well, everyone calls him Rider. He and I have been best of friends since birth."

Helanah's heart swelled when she thought of home and her wonderful friends. "Only I know his real name and he does. Of course his parents do too. And..." it was hard for her to speak now. "I miss him. And home."

Helanah watched as the pebble was thrown to the next person, tears in her eyes. She stayed strong though. She didn't cry.

Dara watched Rayden’s tree collision with a blank expression as the wild grass continued to whisper around her moving feet. The ground was unnecessarily uneven compared to the city pavement she was used to, with tree roots, rocks, and whatever else nature had to throw at her out to get her. As she inhaled, the crisp air pierced her like glass, almost how she imagined a clear quartz would feel in her lungs.

Something about Helenah’s reply dulled Dara’s heart for the both of them. Dara doubted if she’d ever felt at home in her world—but she didn’t want to think unproductive thoughts like that. Against her typically removed participation in idle talk, Dara felt urged to carefully change the subject, “This has been at me for a while: are any of you from Earth? Where are you all from?” She justified that it would be worth knowing anyway.

Lex faltered. Knowing that attention would be on him the moment he opened his mouth - or thought of something to say when he opened it - he tossed the pebble over to Helenah in the hopes that it would distract her.

"I'm from Earth, actually," he admitted. He rubbed the back of his neck with his now free hand. "...It's a long story."

Kiran frowned, "Earth? I'm sorry, am I supposed to know what that is?"

Her eyes continued to scan the players, looking for guilty subjects.

Earth. Something about that name sounded familiar.....

Oh. Oh

Rayden remembered something from 1st grade, while he still had a family and could go to school. Something about how Zhakia was called United States some hundred years ago; and that Arasul was 'Earth.'

Back in 2080, there'd been an Acopalypse. Something about Resource Depletion, and how different kingdoms - no, they were called Nations - had warred against themselves; and there were explosions and bombs. Basically, the whole world was chaos. It was 3019 before the fighting stopped. There was no one left to fight. A few million people were the only surviving on Arasul/Earth.

Among the survivors, leaders were elected. They rewrote the rules, and made every effort to forget the past. New plans were made. Zhakia was born. It was year 3624, and they'd almost recovered. Some technology was yet to be reinvented, though. They were in what the 21st century Earthens called 'Middle Ages.'

It was going to be hard to explain all that. Even Rayden was confused. Would that mean he was, like, from the future? He shook his head, his brow furrowed, and met Dara's eyes.

"I'm from..." he began. Then stopped. Then started again. "Let's just say I'm from a future Earth, yeah?"

Helenah looked at Lex and Rayden, suddenly intrigued. "Both of you are from Earth! I've heard so many stories about that kingdom! How's it like? Is there buldigs? I mean... Buildigs. Or, buildings, I mean."

She studied the grass beneath her feet. "You can probably tell I'm not from Earth." Helenah admitted. "I'm from a differnt kingdom. It doesn't have a name, though." Her face turned red in embarrassment. She fiddled with the - again - loose bit of her hair. "People there usually have animal friends like me. I used to have a cat too. She passed onto the next universe though."

She sighed, looking up and smiling.

"I'm from Fayne," said Aegeas. He wasn't sure what to say about future or past Earths, or if he should offer condolences to Helenah over her losing a friend. Neither seemed like things he was qualified to talk about. "I'm not familiar with Earth, and I'm guessing Fayne is pretty different, since nobody else here looks anything like me."

Helenah tried to stop a giggle from escaping her lips at what Aegeas's latest words were, but it failed. She stopped herself when she realized she was being rude. "Sorry..." she mumbled.

"I've only been there once, but Fayne seems different than Earth," Lex agreed.

Then Helenah's question registered, and he faltered at the answer - it was a simple question with a simple response, but he knew more were to follow. Questions he probably couldn't answer, seeing that it had been several years since he had last been there.

"Earth does have buildings," he said. "And it's...nice, in comparison to some of the other worlds I've been to. But I think there might be better ones out there."

"I reckon* there would be," said Dara dryly. Her dark eyes wandered, somewhat detached, to the vivid foliage beyond the river. "This one, for starters, even if it is iffy*." Dara surveyed the odd arches and the distant objects above the canopy with more conscious questioning than before. She thought she saw a pebble cut across her vision meanwhile.

Kiran spotted the pebble in the corner of her eye, but couldn't figure out who had it once she turned.

"So...is Earth some kind of default? Some of you have mentioned traveling between worlds before, and all of you who do that seem to know what Earth is, so is it some kind of...base? Like a waystation or something?"

Lex shook his head.

"It's a regular world," he said, feeling a pit of homesickness in his chest. He didn't feel it too much these days, but it occasionally snuck up on him. "I think people from Earth just have a habit of ending up on other worlds..."

"That's...weird," Kiran commented, flicking the end of her braid out of the way where it had floated its way back in front of her face. The pebble continued to elude her. If she was more observant, this game might be over by now. But she wasn't, so she continued to scan the hands of all those around her.