Young Writers Society

Kentaro Hinamori:

They sat in an awkward silence for several minutes, neither quite sure where to begin their next conversation. Kentaro was desperately hoping that Amy was home and had seen what he had written; every moment that passed felt like an hour.

Suddenly, Arcanus grabbed his stomach. "I think I've been poisoned," he weakly said.

"Why?" He doubted the former occupant of his closet actually was poisoned. Being poisoned was something he would find in his Seraphinity, not in what was unfortunately reality.

"My stomach really hurts," the teenager managed to get out. "And it's making weird sounds too." He curled over, still clutching his stomach in pain. "Is this what dying feels like?"

Realization suddenly struck him. The armor clad individual before him wasn't poisoned like he was convinced he was. The true reasoning for the pain and noises was a much more normal, easier to solve problem. "That's what being hungry feels like." How could he not have known that?

There was a pause. "Oh." Arcanus sounded almost embarrassed by the explanation, as if he had possessed the knowledge of hunger but hadn't known how to apply it. Which Kentaro found to be a very strange situation. How could you not know what it felt like to be hungry.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Let's head downstairs and get you something to eat."



Arcanus had initially been opposed to removing his helmet. He had protested quite loudly, saying something about having a skin disease since he was born. Once Kentaro had gotten the message across that he had to take it off if he wanted to eat, however, he had fallen silent.

He sat down at the kitchen table, sitting awkwardly on the end of the chair so he could fit both his armor and whatever lay hidden underneath the cloth covering his back (it looked suspiciously like a pair of wings). Arcanus crossed his arms. "I'll take it off," he finally agreed. And then he very reluctantly did exactly that.

The helmet had concealed long golden locks of hair that cascaded down his back the minute he removed it. His skin was incredibly pale - almost a sickly pale - as if he had never been out in the sun before. Despite his skin's tone, the teenager was strangely beautiful. There was something about his face that suggested he would never age, and something about it that made it seem as if Arcanus was from an entirely different world.

It was as if he wasn't human.

He could feel Arcanus watching him as he went to warm up some leftovers. It was the only substantial food he had in the house; to make matters worse, it was Chinese take-out that he had been avoiding for the past week because of how much he disliked the taste.

The microwave beeped after a minute. A second later, the sound of metal hitting the ground reached his ears. He spun around, expecting to see that Arcanus had knocked some of the pots and pans over.

Instead, he found the teenager peering over the edge of the table at both him and the microwave, fear quite obvious in his golden eyes. "What is that thing and why did it just make that noise?!" he exclaimed.

Either Arcanus was a very good actor, or he honestly had no idea what a microwave was. "It's called a microwave," Kentaro slowly said. It was best, he decided, to treat Arcanus like a child at the moment. Slow, simple explanations would suffice. "It warms up food that's already been cooked. You press the buttons and you can set it for however long you like and warm it however you like."

"Okay," Arcanus replied, returning to his seat as Kentarp placed the food in front of him. He shuddered as he ate it - it appeared Kentaro wasn't the only who disliked the taste - but finished it all the same.

"Why do you wear that armor?" Kentaro suddenly asked. "You don't have a skin disease; you look perfectly fine, besides how pale you are."

Arcanus stared down at the empty plate. "I've...changed. I didn't want to, but I'm stuck how I am now. I'm worried my friends won't accept me now. I'm worried they'll hate me. I've always worn this armor. Maybe if I hide how I look, they'll still like me."

The words sounded all too familiar to him.

They hated you. They never liked you. You were just there. When you stopped pretending to be the person they thought you were, they deserted you.

Those were the thoughts that had run through his head oh so many times after they all left him to go to private schools together, never having informed him of their plan to avoid the school he would be going to - the public high school.

He, surprisingly enough, realized he was staring at someone just like him.

Billie Johnson:

Slightly nervous, she rang the doorbell. As if to make sure it was still there, Billie turned her head to the spot where she had woken up on a patch of grass fifteen seconds ago. She had woken, sprang up, and ran to the nearest door.

No one was answering the door yet, which gave Billie a second to ponder over the reaction of the soul who would turn out answering her call. Back when she had gotten lost at another community a while back, she had knocked on people's door to find directions. She only got blank stares, and the door slamming in her face.

It was her own fault, she supposed, after all, she chose to dress like this. Her initially black angled pixie cut dyed neon green, she supposed that the hot pink streaks, punk clothes, and layer of eyeliner around her narrow brown eyes didn't help her image either. But she wasn't one to give into pressure, and as a result, remained dressed how she was.

She took a sharp intake of breath as the door opened...

Amy

Amy jumped a little at the sudden ring of the doorbell, looking at the two strangers sitting at her table.

"Aaa. Uh. I'll got get that." At the look of confusion on their faces, she quickly explained. "Someone's at the door. I'll be right back. Feel free to... I dunno, talk amongst yourselves."

She walked out of the kitchen and down the hall, peeking through the peephole in her door curiously. She squinted, eyeing the new stranger, almost relieved that she... actually looked pretty normal, comparatively. She looked like someone she might be friends with actually. Of course, she still didn't know why a teenager would be knocking on her door. The girl certainly didn't look like she was selling girl scout cookies. Maybe tickets to a concert or something? Eh.

She opened the door, sending the girl an inquisitive glance. "Hey. What's up."

Billie Johnson:

"Good afternoon. Sorry to interrupt your day, but..." Billie heaved a sigh, lamenting on how strange this question would sound. "Do you have any idea where I am? I woke up on that patch of grass over there," she pointed to the front lawn of the house. "And I have no idea how I got here."

Amy

Drugs. Everyone around me is on drugs. A bunch of druggies have wandered into my neighborhood. She looked back behind her, peering into what she could see of the kitchen. The two dudes seemed to be alright. Just... sitting, at the moment. She returned her attention to the girl. At least they seem to be averagely nice druggies. But they're all like, teens.

She began to wonder that if she asked for their parent or guardian's pone numbers and such, if they would even let her contact them. But... if they were on the run or something, she knew that all too well. Thinking back to the time when she ran away from home, her heart suddenly ached for these kids. The emotion hit her unexpectedly to say the least. Being moved with compassion, and understanding that these guys really were lost, in one way or another, she found herself looking at the situation entirely differently.

"Ah. Don't worry. I'm sure it'll be ok." She began, "You're in Tupper Pines, a little community right outside of Wilcox. You're currently at my house, hah. 2208 E. Cherry Street. Um. You can come if you'd like!" She offered, pointing down the hall and opening the door more.

"Oddly enough, I actually have two other complete strangers in my kitchen. I think one more would be ok."

@JuliasSneezer

Billie peered past Amy's shoulder, at the two guys sitting at the counter, and nodded. "Thank you for your hospitality." She wiped her feet on the welcome mat, not wanting to inconvenience Amy more than she already had. She walked through the house, and took a seat with the two other guys. "Hi," she said. "I'm Billie."

Shun (AKA Shaun)

The smell of apples and cinnamon hit my nose before I even opened my eyes. I exhaled, and I could feel the vibrant dream energy dissipating like a cloud of shimmering lights.

I opened my eyes. Sure enough, from where I was now sitting on a plush couch, I could see a polished bowl of shining, fresh Fireside apples and a couple sticks of cinnamon atop a little table.

I smiled as I breathed in the fragrance again. The combination of sweet apples and spicy cinnamon had always been Min Ru's favorite smell. And I didn't blame him. It was hard not to love the soothing aroma, even if you hadn't been trained--and stressed out--for over a hundred years in order to succeed your father as the next Prince of the Dream Tribe, then finally succeed him and get nagged by old officials every day at court as a reward.

Reaching out my mind, I searched to see if my cousin was in the house, but his presence was a few hours old.

"Figures," I said to myself. After all, his dislike for humans was too strong to allow him to stay long in a human community, of all places. "Ah, well. I never really know what's he's doing, anyways."

As I stood and walked to the door, I smirked a little as I saw a key lying on the table for anyone in the house to see. This vacation house of ours will get ransacked if he's so careless. But I knew that he was always careful, especially if our Tribe hung in the balance. He really did need this break, if he allowed himself to forget to hide the royal family's vacation house key.

Maybe I should create a really nice dream for him when I get back. But it probably wouldn't work on him. I imagined him scowling while saying, "Did you really think your dream powers would be effective on me?" Nope. You're too powerful, Min Ru.

I swiped the key and pocketed it after locking the house door as I left. It was a shame that the human clothing I'd donned before leaving the City of Dreams didn't have as many--secret--pockets as those of the Dream Tribe.

My nose wrinkled at the pungent scent of human and other, foreign beings. It seemed that some of my neighbors had guests, one of whom didn't have an Earth smell clinging to him. My eyes glanced over the other houses as I headed down the sidewalk.

Amy closed her door after a strange-looking girl, and I could sense two more people inside. She probably wouldn't want to have to entertain one more person. I kept walking.

Kentaro Hinamori seemed to have a . . . nonhuman guest. This one seemed to bear some sort of flowery smell that I couldn't place--or at least, I thought the scent was like flowers. Perhaps this one was not from Earth either.

Maybe Kentaro wouldn't mind having one more visitor. It couldn't be too much more awkward than having just one person.

I rang the doorbell and called, "Hello, Kentaro? It's me, Shaun!"

Kentaro Hinamori:

"Hello, Kentaro? It's me, Shaun."

Both his and Arcanus' eyes widened. He wasn't sure when exactly the change had occurred, but now he didn't eant to rat the golden-eyed teenager out. He hadn't met anyone truly like him in a long time. Arcanus, as strange as he was, was a kindred spirit.

He glanced frantically between the door and the boy sitting at the table. "Put your helmet back on," he hissed. Arcanus rushed to comply as Kentaro made his way to the door.

He opened it. "Hi, Shaun," he said to the woman standing on the doorsteps. He made sure to block any possible view she would have the interior of the house. Of course the front door had to be close to the kitchen; if she looked into it the right way, Shaun would be able to see Arcanus getting his helmet back on. "You haven't been here for awhile."

Before she could offer any words as a response, there was the sound of clanging metal as Arcanus approached the door.

"Who's this?" Shaun asked, genuine curiosity in her voice.

"I'm Ar-"

"His name is Arthur. Arthur...er..." He glanced back at the confused teenager behind him. "Arthur Elric." Hopefully Shaun had never heard of Fullmetal Alchemist. If she had, his lie would have been incredibly easy to catch on to. It was a stupid alias that he had created, but when he glanced back and thought of Arcanus' golden eyes and hair, the protagonist of the series was the first thing that came to mind.

"Don't mind the armor. He's an actor; you know, for plays and stuff. He's trying to get used to wearing armor for his newest role in an original work." He gave a nervous smile. "It's one of those theaters that stresses on realism. So he has to wear a real suit of armor to prepare for the role."

Arcanus looked over his shoulder at the woman on the doorsteps. "It's a lot of work," he said, taking a large gulp of air as if just moving tired him out. "And they could only get a suit of armor that's bigger than me, so I keep tripping over my two feet." The corners of his eyes turned up. Kentaro guessed he was smiling. "Kentaro can vouch for that. I'm really grateful for him letting me stay at his house while mine's getting some work done on it."

Kentaro took a step away from the door. "I'm guessing you want to come in?"

Shun/Shaun

"Sure, if you don't mind," I said, smiling. Kentaro is obviously lying about this guy, but then, I'm letting him believe I'm a human. It's not my business. As long as "Arthur" isn't an Immortal killer. "So how have you been, Kentaro?"

"Uh . . . great," he said, forcing a smile. I could tell he was nervous. Very nervous. About me or this 'Arthur?' "How about you?"

"Things have sure been busy back at home," I said as I walked in. I resisted sneezing as all of the human scent trapped in the house along with the strange non-Earthling's flooded me. "I would have liked to come visiting sooner, but this is the first chance I got to get away from grad school and the family. By the way, it's nice to meet you, Arthur." I gave the armored guy a genuine, friendly smile. It must have been terrible to be stuck in there. "I'm Shaun Lee. I'm Kentaro's neighbor, whenever I can come by, anyways. My house is just down a few houses that way."

I was already shunned by most sprites I knew because of my interest in humans, but this behavior would probably finish the deal if they found out. But I considered myself an outsider. At least, except with Min Ru and Mei Li, but they were my cousins. Adrian, as a sprite from the Healer Tribe, was nothing but kind, and Luka . . . I blinked, trying to banish his beautiful face from my mind. No one in the Tribe would stand for it, since he was part human--a very rare thing, by all means--and I was, all in all, still royalty. I would admit that I wouldn't have such an interest in humans if it weren't for him, though.

I stuck my hand out for a handshake, which we Dream Tribe never did with each other. But I wanted to see if I could get a sort of vision from "Arthur" like I sometimes could with humans and my fellow Immortals.

"Arthur" stared at my hand. Kentaro began to smell even more strongly of nervousness.

Arcanus Invaderat:

His armor had become extremely uncomfortable ever since he put it on after the transformation that he still couldn't comprehend. It was hot inside the armor. The heat he was experiencing, along with the sweat staining his clothes (which were also too big for him, but unlike the armor had never been his) and forming on his forehead, was a foreign sensation to him. Just the same as the pain he was still feeling from falling out of Kentaro's closet.

He wished he could take it off. It was a nuisance, more than anything. But Kentaro had come up with a lie to explain it and make him seem normal; Kentaro, the same boy who less than an hour earlier hadn't believed a word he said. Besides, he didn't know when he would run into Magestorrow. The demon was the entire reason he had gotten that child outside the church to send him to this strange place. After his sudden disappearance in a flash of light, he had to follow through. What if something had happened to him?

But Magestorrow hadn't been in the closet, and he certainly wasn't in Kentaro's house.

He made sure to keep his back facing away from Shaun as he shook her hand; he didn't want her to see the badly concealed wings underneath the cloth covering his back.
"It's nice to meet you, Shaun," he said, smiling underneath his helmet. Now he had claimed two false identities; Arthur Elric and Arcanus Invaderat.

He could only hope to remember both of them and not let the truth be revealed.

"I'm Sadiq," Sadiq said between gulps of water. He'd never appreciated how good Earth water was before. He was about to carry on, to ask something along the lines of there isn't any legitimate food here, by any chance?, but the doorbell rang and whisked Amy away like a sheepdog to the shepherd's whistle.

Sadiq shrugged and chugged the rest of the water, wiping his mouth on his sleeve when he'd finished. He hastily pulled his arm away as another girl came in with Amy and took a seat.

"Hello," Sadiq could barely contain himself - another fellow human! "I'm Sadiq."

BILLIE JOHNSON:

Billie grinned, happy to meet someone so friendly after waking up on some stranger's lawn. She stuck her hand out to the boy across her and held her hand out. "Hi, my name's Billie."

Amy

"Ok! Awesome! I'm Amy, and this is Mendax." She looked at the table full of strangers, beginning to think of what to do. If they were all lost, it was possible they needed a place to stay. But she wouldn't have the house to herself for more than another two days, and she had no idea how cooperative they would be in her trying to help get them back home (or if bringing them home was even the best thing - sometimes it wasn't - people run away for reasons).

She got another glass of water and grabbed some crackers from the cabinet, setting them on the table. "Um... hm." She grabbed the bowl of fruit that was sitting on the counter, and also placed it on the table. "You guys can help yourselves!" Thank goodness her parents at least taught her to always offer food to guests. That much she knew how to do. "There's some bananas, peaches - which are in season, and they're really good actually. SUPER juicy. Speaking of which -" she grabbed some paper napkings, again, setting them on the table. "You will probably want napkins. I'm a messy eater. I dunno about you guys."

She looked around, her hand instinctively going to her pocket to check her phone, but it wasn't there. I must've left it in my room.

"Oop. I'm uh. I'm just gonna head upstairs for a second to grab my phone! I'll be back in a moment. You guys eat!" And with that, she ran down the hall and up the steps, going into her room. Her eyes searched around her room, but at first glance, she couldn't find it.

"Dangit. Where did I put it?" She asked herself as she began to throw around the blankets on her bed, and kicking up clothes that had been laying on the floor for who knows how long. Finally she looked at her desk - which was piled with clothes - ironically, clean ones at that. She gathered up the clothes in her arms and turned around to set them on her bed before looking back and seeing her phone underneath. She was honestly confused as to how it got there, since she couldn't even remember where she put it last.

She pocketed her phone, giving one last sweeping glance around her room, wondering what else she would possibly need to help the strangers, when her eyes caught a glimpse of something out her window.

A note.

"Kentaro...?" She ran up to the window, eagerly opening it as she leaned out to read the note clearly.

"stuck w/ crazy guy plz help"

Her eyes widened and she looked around her room, frantically searching for a piece of paper. She ripped one out of a notebook and she grabbed a marker and began to write a note back: "dont worry Im coming." She wrote concisely, before closing her window again and taping the note facing outward for him to see.

She went back downstairs, her heart now racing at the thought that Kentaro was in trouble. They hadn't talking in a while, but she still considered him a friend, and she really didn't want him to like, die or something. What did he mean by crazy dude??? How did that happen?? She found herself looking to go towards the door, but she stopped in the kitchen, remembering that heck, I've got potentially crazy people with me too??

"Uh. So here's the thing, guys. My friend who lives next door needs my help. I know it's not the best idea to just leave you guys since I know you're all confused and stuff, but uh... could I just leave for a bit? I KNoW that's like, the worst thing to do as a host haha, but uh, I'm really worried about my friend ya know? Just wanna help a brotha out. So um, will you guys be ok here for a bit? I don't imagine I'll be gone for too long! And um, while I'm gone feel free to help yourself to the snacks on the table, and heck, if you want you could even watch T.V. if you want in the living room -" she pointed out of the kitchen, at the L-shaped couch facing the television.

"We have netflix, so there's a lot of shows and stuff."

Magestorrow Rian:

He watched Amy shut the door behind her. He felt incredibly out of place, even more so than usual. He was in a strange, new world called Earth with devices he couldn't even begin to fathom the purpose of. And then there was the fact that everyone around him were human.

Soul always fended off the loneliness that he had grown so accustomed too; always helped make things better when he felt isolated from the rest of the world. He knew that he didn't fit in among the humans he had found himself with.

Remaining at Amy's house could be a good way to gain information. The other two could give him insight into what he didn't understand, and maybe would offer some way for him to return home. But he knew that Sadiq and Billie would never offer the same comfort Soul did. Amy, despite how nice she was, couldn't either.

He pushed his chair back and silently slipped out of the house without either of the humans noticing.

He eyed the clothes' lines before what he assumed to be houses as he passed, looking for an outfit that would be both unassuming and conceal his the parts of him that didn't look human. He had been skilled at the art of finding clothes that fit him and nicking clothes since he was a child.

He finally settled on an outfit. He quickly located a place to change and discarded his old clothing into a trash container - the smell was what gave it away, despite its foreign appearance - and he made his way back to where he had arrived. His tunic and leggings had been swapped for the same type of top Amy had worn (the one he had chosen was red) and pants made of the same material as hers. He reluctantly exchanged the cloak Soul had given him what seemed so long ago for a strange type of jacket, this one a subtle gray.

He scoured the yards for suitable shoes. Mage eventually stumbled upon a pair of perfectly good black boots left outside near one of the trash containers, most likely going to be thrown out. The wastefulness made him frown. Kiera would have thrown a fit if she had seen the sight; he was just as upset. Shoes could be a hard thing to come by.

He pulled up the hood to his new jacket and made his way down the street. It was time for him to find a way back home.

Amy

Amy nervously but hurriedly ran over to Kentaro's house, knocking on his door insistently. When no one replied at first knock, she knocked again.

"Kentaro? You ok in there?" She called through the door, pressing her ear against it. "I swEAR IF you're hurt or something I'm gonna beat the snot out of that guy!"