Young Writers Society

"I'm fine," Maahes said, He made his way over to one of the bunks. He, of course, wouldn't use them for actually sleeping, but they provided a suitable excuse for why he wasn't up to talking much right now. Sitting down on its edge, he looked at James from underneath his cloak. He should have been standing next to him if he truly wanted comfort, but comfort was something he was used to not getting.

"Well," said Tavis, "seeing as we're safe, I think I'm going back to sleep." He patted Seung on the shoulder. "Rest up, okay?" He climbed onto a bunk and almost immediately fell asleep.

James nodded as Seung eagerly found a bed and looked to the other two. He had to admit, he was tired as well, and now, being in a secure location, he hoped he'd be able to sleep well enough through the night. So he headed to a bottom bunk and plopped down onto the bed.

As soon as he did so, the door to the room swung open slowly as a woman poked her head in. She had blonde, bleached hair cut close to her head and dark skin. Her mouth upturned into a warm grin as she looked in at them all.

"Hello," she greeted them in hushed tones, noticing that some of them were already in bed. "I'm Mel. I'm here to see a Seung who's sick?"

Seung raised his head slightly to look at her. "That would be me," he said and sniffled again.

Mel looked over to Seung with a smile and slipped inside the room, holding the basket in front of her. On light feet she walked over to his bunk and sat down at the foot of it.

"I was told you were out in the cold for a long time? How are your fingers and toes? Have you checked for frostbite?"

“Yeah, thankfully I can feel everything just fine,” he replied. “What kind of treatment do you use here? I’m a medic, so I’m pretty curious.”

Mel pulled out a little bottle from the basket.

"Well, we make different medicines out of different plants native to our world here on Nye. Some of them have magical healing or soothing properties inherently, and others we combine together. I don't know what medicine making is like where you come from, since I believe it's probably different there, but it's very much like a science," she started to explain. She held up the bottle. "This is a little concoction for medicating coughs and congestion. I'm not sure if you've got more of a dry cough or if you have a lot of mucus, but from your sniffs it sounds like you've at least got some drainage. If that's the case, this should help. But I also have healing magic, which might be something very unfamiliar for you. If medicines are more in your comfort zone we can stick with that, but my magic could also relieve your symptoms and I could target the virus or bacteria - or whatever it is, in your body. It's a bit hard to explain, but it does require touch. Essentially, I can sort of... see and feel inside someone's body to sense what's wrong, and can send my magic there to heal it. With sicknesses, it's a little slower than healing up outer wounds - like a cut or a scrape, so I'd still give you some of the medicine to help, but if you're open to it, we can do both."

"Wow," said Seung, an almost childlike, excited grin growing on his face. His symptoms were completely forgotten as he absorbed this new knowledge. So many things he could learn, even if they wouldn't work when he somehow got home. "There's no magic where I come from, but I don't mind. Go ahead."

A smile grew on Mel's face at his expression, but when she got his permission, it faded as she shifted into focus. "Okay," she said, getting up and sitting closer on the edge of the bed beside him. "I'm just gonna put my hands on either side of your head, since that's probably where all the congestion is. This'll take me a little bit, but just be patient and still. Finding things inside the body can be difficult, and it requires a lot of focus," she explained as she lifted up her hands to his face and placed her palms just above his ears.

"Fortunately, I've got lots of experience, so I know what I'm doing," she said, giving him another quick, comforting smile before she closed her eyes and set her focus on her magic.

In the silence that followed, a soft, golden glow emanated from her hands and a warmth began to spread throughout his body. Slowly, but surely, the sickly weakness was replaced with strength, and the stuffiness in his nose started to clear away. His symptoms were soothed, though there was still mucus in his system that needed to be cleared out.

The process lasted no more than two or three minutes, and when Mel was done, she slowly pulled her hands away and opened her eyes. She gave Seung a small smile as she picked up the bottle of medicine.

"Feeling better?" she asked.

“Yes,” said Seung, quite astounded at the nearly instant feeling of symptom relief. “It’s as if I’m already near the end of my cold, if I were fighting it off naturally.”

Mel nodded, pleased that he was feeling better. "Wonderful! Now, just take a small serving of this..." she said quietly, pouring a small portion of the medicine into a little cup and handing it to him. "It should also make you drowsy, so hopefully you can sleep with the others through the rest of the night."

"Thank you, Mel," he said. "Since it's late, I won't ask what this is, but I hope I can learn from you soon--maybe tomorrow?" He drank the medicine and then shifted into a more comfortable position to get ready to sleep again.

"I'd love that! It'd be exciting to hear what you know about medicine from your world. I'd love to learn from you! And of course, I could show you more of what we do here!" she said with a smile.

She took his cup and placed it back in her basket, gently lifting herself off the bed and giving him a small wave. "I hope you sleep well and feel better in the morning!" she whispered sweetly before slipping out the door and closing it quietly behind her.

James watched quietly in the dim light of the room as Mel left, having quietly listened in on the conversation between her and Seung.

She seemed very kind. He wondered if a lot of the people in Mickey's guild were like that, or grew to be like that after spending enough time with him. Even though it was strange and overwhelming, it didn't seem like a bad place to be. At the very least, it wasn't a bad place to come for help for a bunch of very confused and lost people.

He pulled his covers up, feeling unaccustomed to sleeping in a bed. But even if it was foreign, it was nice, and the comfort quickly drew him into a deep sleep.



James couldn't tell when morning came. That seemed to be one of the downsides to underground housing, but at the very least, it was hidden from view and mostly inaccessible to people above-ground. But morning was announced as the door burst open, and a booming voice greeted:

"GOOD MORNING GUYS! BREAKFAST IS READY IN FIVE MINS!"

James literally jumped out of bed, almost hitting his head on the boards that made up the bunk above him. In irritation, he crouched down and got to his feet, looking through groggy eyes at the person who so loudly woke them.

It was a very tall and bulky man, dressed head-to-toe in black apart from a stained white apron hanging around his neck and tied around his waist. He had an oven mitt on one hand and the remains of some food in his short beard that framed a big smile, and very...

James squinted.

...white teeth.

Were the man not smiling so cheerfully, he might've looked far more intimidating. With his height and his mass of muscle (his big scarred-up arms, exposed by his sleeveless vest) and a trio of scars running diagonally across his face where an eye was supposed to be, he looked like a seasoned fighter. But instead, he was dressed like a cook.

"The name's Bo!" he greeted. "Not that I expect many of you to remember right away since it's morning, but I thought I'd run in here to make sure you guys don't miss our meal. Mickey said he's busy tryna contact some old friends to help you guys out, but that might take a few days. Travelling still takes a hot minute, even when you have magic." He clapped his hands.

"So! Uh! I'll just uh, wait outside the door here? Or? Yeah. You guys... wake up and get ready and I can show you to the dining hall when you're all ready. I would say no rush but there is kind of a rush if you want warm food. And if you want to all sit together or something."

Tasha had hardly slept that night, and when she did, it'd been the kind of sleep where one was really only semi-conscious as opposed to fully asleep. Nightmares kept her from achieving much more. That, and the visceral tension of being in a new place with unfamiliar people.

When the massive man came barging into the room she hit her head on the ceiling and let out an involuntary yelp of surprise and pain, putting her hand to the now-red spot on her forehead. A few disoriented splutters in her native tongue came out (and from the sound of it they were cuss words) but she quickly switched back into the common tongue. "Good morning?"