Young Writers Society

Yelir~

I hadn't moved since Abby had pushed me into the bush. Not the most comfortable place to hide, but it was better then being out there. My eyes were taking in everything, tense, making sure no one noticed us here. Once I flinched when the Katt came close, but she moved away with out seeming to notice us.

They were fighting now, while a Beecst girl was trying to calm them down by singing a nursery song, even I smiled at that. But her song didn't seem to help, in fact it looked as if it was making things worse. The tension made the air stuffy and I wished that I'd never come. That I was safe in my village's tunnels, right now, most likely I'd be causing mischief with my best friend. But instead I was hiding in a bush, watching terrified as the carnivorous tribes fought with each other, and hoping that they wouldn't find me. But what then? I couldn't just stay here forever. Maybe they'd go away. Yeah right.

For now I was stuck where I was. Not knowing what to do.

..For some reason I'm finding it hard to keep up... Again, correct me if I'm wrong



Alces Muse

Having to stop every few miles or so for water, clean or dirty, and food, whether it meant killing another creature or stealing, finally, Alces sensed he was close to the clearing. He clutched at his pouch of which his twin knives were usually hidden in. Instead, he had taken them out and put them in his underwear to use his pouch as a water supply. It wasn't built for the purpose of holding water, thus it wasn't very efficient.

Lifting it towards his fractioned lips and chugging down a few minor, savoured sips, Alces began to pull back at the excessively tall grass and peer over at a clearing- could this possibly be it? Caws, rustles and chutes of water began to sound around him. Were these a figure of his imagination, or around these parts were there actually some waterfalls and byrds, et cetera. Hidden in the depth of all the noises were a few evident voices. There was of course a possiblity he was hearing things again, or this would be the epic introduction for Jira's masculine voice to be heard again, but instinct was telling Alces he wasn't alone.

His ears tensed on either side of his head and his antlers caught on the twigs above him- he was sucha clutz! He dived onto the terrain, tearing free of the branches and maintaining his cover. If anyone heard him, if there was anyone around here anyway, they would surely think they were hearing things since he had dived so fast.

Panting and rolling away from that entrance to the clearing, as he proceeded to roll, a sudden... Tune like voice met his ear drums in an instant. He bounced, only barely along the terrain due to the stomping of some sort upon the ground. This bewildered Alces immensely, but also reassured him that more people were here. This could mean trouble for him, since not all tribes got along. Some foliage caught his sight; excellent cover! On his stomach, he used his elbows to scurry along the ground and over to the thicket.

Sorry I haven't posted! I've been so busy lately...I promise to post more.

Murdoshi Blueshark:

It took me forever to get where I am now. I kept getting to dry for my liking and headed back to the river and having to start over again. Finally, I convinced myself to just keep going. My tongue and mouth were really dry. A chilled wind passed by and I tugged at the sides of my shirt. The Fynn tribe wears shirts that expose their gills so the can breath easier, but that makes it colder when we are out of water.

With a grunt, I jumped over a thick patch of brush only to end up laying on my stomach. Bickering stopped for a moment when everyone turned towards me. Before standing up I spat the dirt out of my mouth and wiped it from my face. Pushing back my bright blue hair I stood to look at the others.

I knew that my pale skin and blue hair must really stick out, but to be honest I didn't care. They were all from other tribes. I stopped myself from turning around and walking away. Blinking once slowly, I said "Hello. My name is Murdoshi. Murdoshi Blueshark."

Sorry I haven't posted yet... I was away last week and didn't have access to a computer. Please let me know if I say anything that makes no sense... I've never really done this before. So here goes.

Farren Orangutan

I looked up from the plans I was reading. Carlos must have been having a bad day; he never made this many mistakes. This was why nobody ever worked alone or submitted plans without having several people check over them first. I grabbed a piece of charcoal and corrected the calculations beside the drawing. That should fix it. Carlos wouldn't even have to know.

I walked over to the doorway to see how the net installation was going. The Capuchins may have had a lot of energy, but they had such a painfully short attention span. Sure enough, nothing had really changed from the last time I had looked. The net was a project that was organized by my team. It was as much of a safety precaution as a defensive device, for the young ones were fearless, but lacked common sense and a certain steadiness on their feet. It may have only been fifteen feet to the ground from most structures around the tribe, but broken arms were not fun.

A wave of tired washed over me. It wasn't surprising, really, seeing as I had been up all night drawing up plans for a new bridge to join the central dome to the storehouses. There wasn't anything important that I needed to be doing then, so I went home.

My house was small, but I didn't really need anything extravagant. Most of my time was spent at the planning office, and I hardly entertained. It was actually only one room, though most of the homes around the tribe were only made up of two or three. I stretched out on the bed in the corner, letting my eyes close. It was only a matter of moments before I fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Farren. Farren.

I sat up with a start. I couldn't see anyone, but I was sure that I heard a voice. Never mind that, I could feel someone in the room, something wonderful. For several minutes there was nothing. I was about to lie back down again when I heard it again.

I am here, Farren. Do not fear, for I mean you no harm. I bring you this message: Beyond the boundaries of the Prymait tribe lies the Council Clearing, where the kings of old met each year. You must go to the Clearing. There will be nine others, each bringing unique talents. Tell no one of this message, but leave immediately. There is no time to waste.

How could this voice know who I am? I could not just leave my entire life; I had duties, a family, and why would I want to leave everything I have ever known?

Have faith, Farren, that everything will make sense in time. For now, trust that there is a greater plan for your life. That will have to be enough. Know that there will be terrible consequences if you should disobey.

With that, the presence left, and I was filled with the urge to do as the voice said. So without a second thought, I touched the charm in my hair, and started walking.

~Cody~

So far we had a person from the Beecst tribe, the Dohg tribe, the Katt, Bair, and now Fynn tribe. That's five here, and five to go. My impatience got the best of me. What was keeping everyone! The wiser part of me told me that maybe not everyone was going to get here at the same time. Maybe not even the same day. But didn't Jira say the full moon? So they had to be here, at least by the end of the night.

I sighed. Getting off the ground, I started walking towards the woods. "Where are you going?" the Dohg asked. I stopped and clenched my teeth. The question was reasonable enough, he had the right to know, but the way he said it, like he owned the world. I told myself not to do anything stupid and, at last, I answered calmly, "I'm getting some wood for a fire." I looked over my shoulder with a look that dared him try to stop me. He didn't, only snappy nod of his head. Of course he wouldn't care to help.

After gathering a arm full of dry branches, I headed back to the clearing, which was now no where in sight. Once I stepped a foot out of there, the tall weeds made it look like nothing was there. But I saw it coming and had wisely made a trail. With my claws, I cut a small slash in the bark of the trees that I passed.

Now, my eyes were concentrating on the trees, trying to find the next slash, and I didn't see the hand until I stepped on it, and the person let out a loud, "OW!" I jumped and dropped the armload of wood on the person that I had stepped on. The wood landed on the persons head and he let out another, "OW! What is it? Pick on Alces day?" I blinked, surprised that the thick heavy branches hadn't knocked him out. Then I saw the pathetic looking antlers on his head and I realized it was someone from the Hoph tribe. That makes sense, the Hoph's supposedly have really hard bones.

The rustle of the plants turned my attention to the left and I saw everyone else rush towards me. "What happened? We heard someone yell." Alex said.

"I stepped on this," I said, grabbing hold on one of the Hoph's horns and holding him up.

"Oh."

"On other matters, I got found enough wood to start a warm fire."

"Oh, goodie!" Sailor bounced, "'Cause I'm freezing."

Abby

Breathe, Abby, breathe!

I seriously was on the verge of hyperventilation. Bair. One. Foot. Away. Byrd does not like Bair. Bair scares Byrd. I am no exception, and neither is he. My wings were trembling with the effort it took to keep them folded, and my arms were starting to give out. I wondered how Yelir was holding up.

I bit the insides of my lips and pinched my eyes closed, straining to keep a hold of the branch. The cluster of predators hadn't moved, not an inch. Why couldn't I be an Eagle? Eagles weren't feared- they were predatory too. No, I had to be the Hummingbird. Not easy prey, but certainly not strong. So here was the smallest of the Byrd clan, surrounded by predators on a kamikaze mission from Jira. Who'd a-thunk it of little Abby Humming?

That was when my arms gave out.

Only the end of my braid even brushed the ground before I was angling up, straight and fast as an arrow into the treetops. I landed softly on the thinnest limb, crouching and taking in silent breaths. I was prey, but I had generations of evolution on my side. I was a natural hider. Happens when you're the runt of the clan.

So I stayed in shadow, heart hammering, wings finally spread and balanced, waiting until I could make an escape.

Alces Muse

Flailing his large, hoof like hands, Alces finally collided with the facial region belonging to an obvious being of the bair tribe. After freeing his insignificant antler, followed by an extended pout, Alces dusted himself down and gained an almight, or at least slighty proud stance.

"How dare you!" He started hollering; only timidly since he wasn't even quite confident he could take down any of these. "I am Alces Moose - preferring Muse - of the Hoph tribe, to handle somebody of my group is quite an insult." He chuffed, only trying to make it clear he wasn't a push over.

After saying what he needed, Alces subtly moved aside and out of any of their reaches. Starting to blush after feeling slightly stupid from making a minor speech, Alces tried to pick up the pace of their new meeting and move on from the previous topic.

"...Uhm... So... Anyway, what're you all doing here?" Alces said, his tone hoarse due to embarressment.

"Jira..." Piped up a familiar voice, possibly coming from the beesct girl that had previously cheered over the fire wood.

Slowly descending into a sit, Alces began fingering and removing any debris from his antlers - after all, he was very self conscious. "He visited me too.." He murmured whilst some others set up the fire. "He made it brief, so if anyone could tell me why I just ditched the son of my tribe leader, as well as my best friend, love to know."

Murdoshi:

I eyes the people making the fire warily. Fire and fish don't mix all that well. I answered the guy with "So no one dies. I was given a vision. It was terrible. Everyone was being killed, the water wa so thick with blood, everything was destroyed. I shook my head as some tears rolled down my face. I didn't care that they saw me cry. I was glad for the water. I had been out of it for a while and I was slowly starting to go insane.

When they got the fire going I moved away from it and called behind me "If anyone wants to avoid being fried, I'll be over here."

Lupin Wolf

I guess things didn't really start out well for any of us. We all saw each other and then my need for dominence took over and I just wanted to fight them all. I guess it was a good thing that a real fight didn't break out, but it left me feeling like there was no clear leader around the fire. And I didn't like that.

Everyone all seemed to have similar stories concerning Jira at least and I guess that was what kept things civil, but from my count 10 were still not gathered so there must have been more coming. I just couldn't help but thinking, why me? I mean, Timberwolf was much stronger than I was. What would he have done? He would have asserted himself. Problem was that I had no clue if I could. There were some strong ones with us, and dare I say it, I was scared that they would kill me if I tried. I heard other tribes had different customs, so it was a plausible fear.

"You had a vision, too Lupin." Cody said, "What was it?"

He was so smug. I wanted to put him in his place, but no. Remember to bite my tongue. Not everything was a challenge.

"Uhh, yeah." I said. How could I spin the story? I couldn't say that Timberwolf was beat. That would make my tribe and myself look weak. I had to leave that part out, "Well, whatever was making the buzzing noise came by surprise and... Burned down the village. I never really saw them, so I could assume that Jira was telling me that they could attack from afar. Or something." Yes, that was good. Make the enemy out as a coward. The Dohg tribe is one that would never fight without honour or courage.

I looked to Cody hoping he bought my half lie. It was true, at least the part of me not seeing them. I mean, they could have attacked from afar. But I left out the part where they beat Timberwolf in close combat. That was what scared me.

Yelir~

I shivered and buried my cold nose in my arms. By now my position under the bush had gotten to a point where it was uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable. And I was so dang cold, and their fire looked so...warm. But when I saw them tearing into there food, especially the ones with sharp teeth. I was reminded of why I was so terrified. And...well... I started crying. I was cold, hungry, achy, scared, and stuck where I was; that was enough of a reason, wasn't it?

One of the girls, a Fynn I think, got up and walked away from the rest. But that brought her closer to me. I hoped she wouldn't see me, but on the other hand, could anything worse happen? I mean, she looked kind of friendly- "Achoo!" Before I knew what was happening, I let out a large sneeze. I was cold, what could I say?

The Fynn girl jumped and peered behind her. I closed my eyes, not sure if I wanted her to see me or not. When I opened them again, the girl was three inches from my face. "Ahh!" I stumbled backward in surprise. She smiled and called over her shoulder, to everyone else. I watched, terrified, as they all trotted over.

A large man with wolf ears, the one who's name was Lupin, gave me a hard look. "Were you spying on us?" I violently shook my head.

"Why are you here?" another said, with a mouth full of carnivorous teeth.

For awhile I stared at them with big eyes. Finally I gulped and managed to get out. "Jira" and "Dream" in a small whisper. The Katt warrior nodded and walked back over to the fire. Everyone followed suit. After taking a few deep breaths, I got up to follow them blazing flames. But before I took one step I heard someone whisper my name and I spun around to find Abby staring at me from behind the leaves. "Come on." I whispered and offered my hand to her. "We don't have much other choice."

Timidly, she stepped out from the shadows and took my hand. I led her to the fire where everyone looked up and blinked at Abby. "Now, where'd you come from?" The antler guy said, I think I heard that his name was Alces. Abby quietly told her story and we both sat down to get warmed up.

After about ten minutes, I had eaten some of my sunflower seeds that I had packed, and was decently warm, feeling still afraid, but much better. Nobody said or did much.

I had just worked up enough courage to ask them all to repeat their names, when a rustle in the woods caught my ear. I closed my mouth and listened. Whatever was making the noise was quiet and graceful, I could barely hear it and what I did hear reminded me of a slithering snake stalking it's prey. My heart started beating faster and terror clogged my throat when the smell of poison filled my nostrils. The grasses parted and out stepped someone that looked like death its self.

>That's your que LightDevil<