Young Writers Society

You live in a small, residential gated community that lies a few miles outside the main city. Outsiders think the gate is for the purpose of security and privacy, but perhaps it has more to do with the people inside.

Feel free to drop in any character into this scenario! Just make sure they know well enough how to "blend in" into a semi-normal life. There may be some pretty unique characters here, but no one wants to make too big of a scene, do they? That might attract unwanted attention.

Your character can be a long-time resident or a recent move-in. Whatever suits your fancy!

Just a few ground-rules before you start:

1.) Let's start with the characters living close together (at least on the same street). That way they have more of a reason to run into each other.

2.) If according to your character's personality, your little suburbanite is more of a recluse, at least give them a reason to pop their head out for a bit, eh? It is an rp after all! That, or let's get someone to knock on their door. Let's be inclusive and make sure no one's left out!

3.) PLEASE don't anything too... destructive? I mean, if your character accidentally blows up their own house, that's on them, but don't go blowing up the whole neighborhood! Then we'd all be dead!

4.) Keep it clean? Let's try to keep it PG for the most part. If you're unsure, just don't write it.

5.) Your character CAN leave the suburb, but... please come back sometime? The goal of this is to keep the roleplay in one setting so everyone can interact.

It really doesn't matter how your character got here. Maybe this is their summer home, or they're visiting a friend in the community. If you want to go so far as to say they got zapped here by some spell, that works too! But there are lots of homes open, too!

Have fun!

Magestorrow Rian:

When he came to, he found himself on a strange, black surface that felt rough underneath his fingertips as he slowly traced it.

The sound of something approaching reached his ears. What was it? It sounded unfamiliar, and seemed to be coming faster than most things. He hesitantly got to his feet.

There was a loud beeping sound as a metallic contraption went flying by him. It seemed to be some form of transport; he could see people inside of it. Getting off what he assumed to be some strange type of road, he took in his surroundings.

There was a multitude of houses with only small patches of grass before them. It wasn't like a city, nor the towns he had visited.

The last thing he remembered was confronting that boy outside of the abandoned church Zogin had met Janos in. There had a blinding flash of light. Now he was in a terrifyingly unfamiliar place with no knowledge on how to return.

His hood had fallen when he had gotten to his feet minutes earlier. Making sure that his long scarlet hair covered his ears, and that the hood prevented his horns from being seen, he tried to come up with some idea of what he should do next.

It seemed like the smartest thing to do was find a person and talk to them. But who should he talk to?

I'm going to jump in, if I may?

Sadiq Kemal

He jumped back from the road as a car sped past, blasting its horn at him as it went. Immediately, he groped at his face and neck, feeling for a spacesuit that wasn't there. Panic coiled in his throat until he realised the air was breathable.

Wait. He stared after the car. Was that a car?

Asphalt lay under his feet, warming like a great, dark snake under the sun. The sky above was patchy, cloudy. Blue. Neat, ordinary houses lined the street, lined by lovely fences and cropped lawns. Fresh, pine-scented air washed over him. This land, the smell, the everything was unmistakable - he was on Earth.

Sadiq spun around, drinking in the sight. Euphoria rose in his stomach like a hundred helium balloons. No more outer space. No more stars, or galaxies, or wormholes. Just home.

Something told him that he should be worried - there was some very angry aliens out there. But he didn't care. The others could do just fine without him. Plus, Earth would need defense for when the End inevitably arrived, wouldn't it?

The rest of the street was empty apart from a figure in a particularly large hood. Logically, it was probably just another misunderstood teenager, but any kind of human company - as in, new people. Not the humans he'd been locked up with for the last few months - was a beautiful prospect.

"Hey! Hello!" Sadiq shouted, jogging across the road toward the figure.

Amy

"Oh my god! Are you two ok?" The tanned girl rushed over to the guys who nearly got run over by the car, holding her snap-back on her head to keep it from falling off. She cursed at the car speeding away as she ran over. "Damn, that car almost hit you guys! Stupid neighbors don't know how to drive or something?! God! Let's just get you two out of the street!" Without asking, she grabbed their arms and pulled them over onto the sidewalk.

She looked both of them over, but more specifically the hooded man, squinting as she peered at his face. "You ok?" She asked, addressing them both. "Do you need medical attention? Do I need to call somebody?" As she took a moment to look them over and more closely observe their appearance, while the hooded fellow did look rather odd, neither of them looked drunk or drugged up or anything. So that didn't explain them being in the middle of the street. Was it was possible one of them could be diabetic and needed insulin? But they didn't look out of it enough for that. Just... confused.

Still recovering her breath, she, sighed before holding out her to shake.

"...I'm Amy. Tell me how to help." She urged, looking into their eyes, still trying to check for signs of what was up.

Magestorrow Rian:

The sudden appearance of the girl and her frantic questioning took his by surprise. "I'm fine," he managed to get out. He looked the other person who had gone running into the strange road. The boy beside him was only in his teens, and the girl was just a little bit older.

Which meant he was the youngest there, though he wouldn't be revealing that fact.

There was an awkward moment of silence after the boy also uttered a confirmation that he was fine.

"I'm not from here," he began. He didn't want to word things oddly; after all, he was still trying to figure out what exactly had happened and confusing the girl wouldn't help him. "I've somehow become lost. Could you please tell me where I am?"

Amy

"Oh, uh, yeah! Sure, dude." She nodded, tucking her short hair behind her ear. "We're just outside the city, on the edge of Wilcox. This is a uh... gated community..." as the words came out her mouth, she began to question how exactly he could get it without knowing where he was. But she wasn't about to jump to conclusions just yet. "You might've seen the sign outside the gates that says Tupper Pines. That's the name of this place. But if you're looking for more immediate answers, um, my house is just two houses down. You're on Cherry Street, and you're in on good 'ole planet earth, haha!" She laughed to herself, but quickly stopped, clearing her throat.

She lightly punched the guy's shoulder. "So where you from, bud? And what's your name?" She asked gruffly, but with a smile. She looked over at the other dude.

"You too, bruh."

@Mage @AnarchyWolf

Kentaro Hinamori:

He had been in his room for almost the entirety of the weekend. That fact didn't bother him; in fact, it brought it him an unsurprising form of comfort. He would prefer his games to actual interactions with people any day. Other students ignored him for his differences, but once he submerged himself in the world of Seraphinity, he found himself at home.

He had just completed a boss raid with TheSongKnight when he first heard the noise coming from his closet. He had attributed the sound to his imagination. After all, he had been staring at a screen the entire day. His mind was bound to wonder at least once or twice.

But then he had continued to hear someone - or something - moving around in the darkness.

All of these events lead up to now. Now he was standing before the closet, armed with a small wooden sword he had never painted after getting it years ago at a renaissance fair and a flashlight that flickered every couple of seconds.

He unlocked it. Then he threw open the closet's door, holding both the sword and flashlight out before him as if they were some kind of deadly weapon.

Unbeknownst to him, the occupant of said closet had been about to ram into the door in order to get out. He barely managed to step out of the way in time when someone clad in black knight armor came running out of the closet.

Giving a startled cry, they tripped and fell with a loud crash onto his floor.

The minute they sat up, he jabbed the sword in the direction of their face. They jumped back, startled, but then the inevitable happened.

"That's a wooden sword," a voice pointed out, young and masculine. The wearer of the armor sounded to be just a little older than he was; possibly the age of a senior in high school or a college freshman.

He moved the incredibly blunt tip closer to him. "I can still hit you with it."

"I'm wearing armor," the former occupant of his closet said slowly, almost as if he was talking to a small child rather than a junior in the town's high school.

He decided it was best to change the topic. "What were you doing in my closet? Better yet, how did you get in there without me noticing? I haven't left the house all weekend!"

The teenager on the floor stared up at him with bewildered golden eyes. The golden contacts reinforced the belief he had slowly been arriving at; he was facing someone who wasn't quite right in the head. "A human boy teleported me here after I saw him do the same to one of my friends."

There was no doubting it now. He was definitely dealing with a crazy person.

"Oh God," Kentaro muttered, sliding dejectedly into his gaming chair. "What have I gotten myself into?"

Sadiq

"I'm Sadiq." Sadiq said, staring from Amy to the hooded figure and back again. She looked human enough - pretty, even. But then again, most women were pretty, though so perhaps it wasn't such an achievement, but he was straying off topic again - but he couldn't rule out some weird trick. Maybe it was yet another ridiculous training technique.

"Is this Earth? Is it really, actually Earth?"

He didn't suppose asking something so blatant would uncover the truth, but it was all he could think of asking. His hopes were built higher than the Empire State. He feared that toppling them would crush his heart.

Magestorrow Rian:

Rubbing the spot where she had punched his arm out of habit, the answer she had given finally sunk in.

He was on an entirely different planet.

He didn't doubt her. She didn't seem like she was lying, and this place didn't seem to fit what he knew of the human part of Alium. It was strange and foreign to him.

Worry suddenly gripped his heart; how was he supposed to return? What would Zogin think when she couldn't find him? And how was he supposed to find Soul if he wasn't even on Alium?

Realizing she was still waiting for his answer, though the boy had spoken and given her a response that evidently confused her, he frantically tried to create an alias and town he was from. "My name is Mendax Cyprus. I'm from Fodina." At her look of confusion, he added, "It's a small town. It's more like a village, actually. We're kind of behind on the times."

Kentaro Hinamori:

There was an insane teenager in his room, and Kentaro had no idea how to even begin solving the problem. He didn't seem violent at the moment. In fact, he seemed more than a little confused and worried.

A second answer revealed itself to him. He had been bullied when he was younger. Was this a strange, illegal attempt at more of it? He didn't see the reason behind it. The situation was more of a bothersome than upsetting one; he wanted to return to Seraphinity and train for the next day. (Thank God for three day weekends.)

At least he didn't have to worry about making TheSongKnight wait for him. Ignoring his only and best friend was something he didn't want to do.

"Where are we?"

The question brought his focus back to the present. The confusion in the golden eyes of the boy before him was all too real. This couldn't be a prank. He was dealing with someone who was certainly crazy.

He sighed. His phone was dead and probably under the covers, though it wasn't like he had anyone to call. He had no way of contacting anyone for help. His parents wouldn't care. And, frankly, he didn't want to give them an opportunity to invade his life.

"My room."

It was the former occupant of his closet who sighed. "I guessed that. I meant what town. What region." A pause. "Maybe what world." He moved a little closer, continuing to stare into Kentaro's almost black eyes. "Are you part demon?"

The question took him by surprise. "No?" he hesitantly responded. Then, taking control of the situation, he asked, "Who are you?"

"Your eyes are black," the teenager responded, crossing his arms. "That would make you part demon."

"I'm a hundred percent human." They stared at each other for several more moments. "That's besides the point! Who are you?" When the teenager stayed frustratingly silent, he added, "I'll tell you whatever you want to know." It was a dangerous gamble, but he had to take it.

"My name is Arcanus Invaderat."

The name sounded just as ridiculous as the boy's ensemble looked.

The former occupant of his closet thought for a minute. "Please answer the questions I asked earlier. Also, could you please tell me your name?" The sudden change in the teen's tone - which had become quieter and more polite - surprised him.

"Kentaro Hinamori," he simply replied. "We're in Tupper Pines. It's a gated community; we're on Cherry Street, to be exact. And the world we're on is Earth." Though he desperately wished he was on Seraphinity instead.

As he was watching the boy's reaction to his answer, an idea suddenly hit him. He walked over to his dresser and started to pull out a slightly different outfit consisting of a blue shirt, rather than his red one. He returned to his desk. "I'm getting changed now. I've just realized I've worn this shirt for the past couple of days." He shuddered, as if he was thoroughly disgusted. Arcanus stared at him.

"Would you look away? I'm not exactly comfortable with a stranger seeing me half-naked."

The teenager complied.

He rushed to grab a piece of paper and a marker. He sloppily wrote, "stuck w/ crazy guy plz help" and taped it to his open window. Pulling the blinds down, he quickly changed his shirt.

"I'm good now," he informed Arcanus.

His neighbor Amy could easily see his window from her room; they were right across from each other. Back when they were little, they had written messages on pieces of paper and done exactly what had just done. As they grew older, they had started to do so less and less.

But she was the help he was seeking.

Amy

A look of confusion passed over Amy's face as the two began to respond to her questions. The thing was, the two really did seem sane, just... confused. A small part of her wanted to jump to the conclusion that they were both off their rockers, but even if that were the case, they would need help either way.

"Yes... earth. You're on earth." She lifted up her hands and brought them down slowly, as if to resemble a spaceship landing or something. "As planet earth as earth ever was..." She tilted her head to the side a bit, letting out a laugh-like sigh. They really did need help.

"Mendax! Wow, yeah, that really is behind the times, haha. But you know, people name their kids weirder things! Heck, I knew a kid named after Luke Skywalker once. Poor guy was always made fun of for his name. I'm sure he heard 'Luke I am your father' wayyyy too many times, hahaha." She looked back at her house, then back at the two fellows.

"So uh... Mendax, and..." She juggled her hands towards the other stranger, "...whaaaatever your name is. Do you guys... wanna go inside and sit for a second? Get a glass of water? Maybe we can figure out where your family is or something and get things figured out, ok?"

She found herself very thankful that her parents were out of town for the week on a business trip. If they knew she was bringing in complete strangers, she knew at least her mom would have a hissy fit. Thankfully, they were gone a lot though, but at this point, she didn't mind it. She was an adult, and could take care of herself... and she would take care of this situation too! I can handle this. She reassured herself, as she turned around and motioned for the two guys to follow.

@AnarchyWolf @Mage

Magestorrow Rian:

He silently followed Amy, casting the occasional glance in Sadiq's direction. The other boy seemed both excited and confused; he couldn't even begin to guess why. Underneath his cloak, he shoved his hands into his pockets. He needed to return to Alium quickly. Zogin would be worried about him, and there was still the troubling kidnapping of Soul.

A memory of something he had caught but a glimpse of resurfaced.

There had been a body in the church. He hadn't thought much of it at the time - he was too busy trying to defend himself without attacking any of the human children - but it was appearing all too clearly now in his mind.

He replayed the scene over and over. No matter how he looked at it, the body had been Soul's. The light was gone from his eyes, but not in the same way as when he had supposedly died. And his armor, the black knight armor that he never removed for fear of the truth being discovered, was missing.

Was Janos responsible for that as well?!

His attention was brought back to his present situation when Amy opened the door to what he assumed to be her home. She lead them to a room with a small table and cooking utensils. He assumed it was the kitchen of the house, though he had never seen the tall white box or the cube with the four circles on the top before. Other instruments, such as the numbers on the small rectangular box and the black device, were just as foreign to him.

She gestured for the two of them to sit down at the table. It, at least, was familiar. She filled three glasses of water and returned before sitting down as well.

Sadiq

Sadiq followed Amy and Mendax into a house. He marveled at the walls and the sights and the smells as he walked through, memories of his past on earth flooding back with each familiar object.

Memories of white marble and grand pianos came back - the ones he'd been trying not to think about, for fear of homesickness. He remembered his mother and brother and father and sister, their servants, their lovely dogs.

Homesickness had been, in short, terrible. Stuck however many lightyears away they were, imprisoned and suddenly entrusted with saving the universe had, understandably, made everything so much worse. Would the others be worried about him? Who would fly his ship? What were they doing now? Questions crossed his mind and wouldn't leave him alone, pestering and nagging like his late grandmother.

Sadiq sat down at the table and took a glass of water, draining it in one go as he tried to forget about the questions and the guilt.

Rule number one: never abandon your crew.

He shook his head to rid himself of the words, trying to focus on the taste of the water. Earth water was the best water - what seemed like an eternity of drinking 'purified water', literally just two hydrogen atoms bonded to an oxygen atom had send him yearning for Earth water and its mineral tangs.

He turned to Amy, ignoring her bewilderment. "Whereabouts on Earth are we? Do you know what year is it?"

Amy

Could this be a prank? Could they just be really in character cos-players? There was no way they didn't know what YEAR it was... was there? That or they really were off their rocker. Second thoughts began bombarding her brain as she considered that she may have let institutionally troubled people into her home, and that she was home alone. I'm not equipped to deal with people with mental issues and stuff. I know nothing about it!! Oh Lord help me. She could hear the voices of her parents in her head, chastising her for letting strangers into her home. But wasn't that the right thing to do? Help people or whatever? They'd probably tell her to call the police. But on two lost teenagers?

At the moment, the only thing that really comforted her was that 1. they seemed to be friendly, even if weird, and 2. they were young. She didn't think either of them were a year older than her. As an adult (even a young one) she felt a certain degree of responsibility for taking care of these apparently very lost and confused teenagers, especially so, since they seemed so confused.

She pulled out a few envelopes from her pocket - the mail that she had grabbed before seeing the two almost get run over by her speeding neighbors from down the street - and set them on the table as she took a sip of water as well. It was a hot summer day, and it was humid enough that it felt pretty miserable to be outside for too long. Taking a second to respond, she answered the still unnamed boy's question.

"It's 2016. You're in California. You know, the uh, strip of land on the west coast of the U.S?"

She almost wondered if a map would be helpful, since the kid had asked... twice or three times now if this was earth. But for now, she tried asking again for something as simple as a name.

"So! What's YOUR name? So I know what to call you. It tends to make conversation a lot easier when I don't have to call you mystery almost-got-run-over-by-a-car boy."