Young Writers Society

The shadow's shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry,", it apologized, voice heavy with a surprising sadness. "I thought you did something to her. I remember being right beside her..." Now that it no longer looked half as terrifying as it had before, Kyou felt at ease. It seemed unlikely that it would try to harm them now - though it could just be a ruse to catch them off of their guard.

"I'm Zion and I'd appreciate if you used they/them pronouns when talking about me," it said. They were using a surprisingly pleasant tone, though their voice sounded as if there were many voices talking all at once. It also had a strange echo to it. "Do any of you know why I was brought here, or why I was separated from my host?

He backs off as the shadow releases his ally, eyes still silver but the darkness around him dissipating as quickly as it came.

"What will you do if I use the wrong pronoun?" Raiden asked. He only asked the important questions.

"You would be on my bad side if you kept doing it, and I doubt you want to worry about a sentient shadow when there's so many other things to fear here," Zion said. Their tone was a mixture of teasing and threatening; they seemed to, at the very least, have a sense of humor.

"We've been trying to figure out why we're here," Kyou interrupted, looking into where he guessed their eyes would be. "Our best guess right now is that we were all brought here for someone's enjoyment."

Raiden nodded slowly
"Or maybe something like uh, Mirai Nikki or King's Game," he added

"What're those?" Jane asked.

"Probably anime," said Li He to Jane, fighting back an eyeroll. She'd watched perhaps one or two herself, but it rather annoyed her how unhealthily obsessed some people were over them. Whether that applied to Raiden, she didn't know, but she'd hold back regardless. Criticizing someone's hobby (as long as it wasn't destructive to society or her) wasn't on her to-do list.

"Anyway, we were going to explore this place, right? Are we waiting for sunrise, or something else?" She glanced at that shadow thing, which seemed suspicious to her, partly because it didn't have much of a scent.

They observed the other occupants of the room with a critical eye. After being thrust into such a strange situation without the comfort of their host, they were finding it difficult to readily trust them. There was the possibility that they held no ill will, but that would be nearly impossible to determine until it was too late. They had to stay on the tips of their toes if they were to learn what had happened to Ari.

They felt the pockets of their shadowy pants. At the very least, they had the cross. It would be absolutely useless without any clothes, but it was an advantage that the others lacked.

"I think it would be wise to explore this place, preferably sooner rather than later," they answered.

Their gaze landed on the boy with the knife. He seemed eager to speak his mind, and they weren't surprised when he spoke. "There is the werewolf," he pointed out, glancing at the woman who had asked what the anime were. "If you wake him up now, would he kill us? Dragging him around is going to be a major handicap that I don't think we can afford."

"Until the sun rises and he returns to his state as a man, he would kill and devour anyone." Jane affirmed. "I think I can drag him around though, if I need to."

Raiden grimaced slightly at the thought of everyone being ripped apart by a mad werewolf.
"Yeesh...uh," he looked towards the lady, "I could help dragging him around," he offered, gesturing to what, essentially, was a flesh-eating ravenous doggo in his head. Which was currently going through many horrifying scenarios that he tried to ignore, as he offered to drag the wolf.

...he was wondering if he was a bit too nice sometimes.

"I would appreciate the help." Jane grinned, honestly unconcerned about Thomas, and the fact that others were uneasy went right over her head.

Zion summoned several strands of darkness to use as a demonstration of what they could do, though the other occupants of the room had already seen their magic in action when they had first arrived. "I can also help," they offered. "My actual form is the same as my host's - and she is far from athletic - but I can use my magic to keep him up."

"Sounds good!" Jane pipe up, grabbing Thomas's front paws, an hefting them onto her shoulders.

The shadow created the same solidified darkness as before, tendrils shooting out from the ground around them and wrapping around the waist of the werewolf. Kyou opted out of assisting in carrying the werewolf. If something attacked them when traveling through the mansion, at least one person would need to be able to do something. His Quirk made him the perfect living shield. If worse came to worst, he could always take the blunt of any attacks to protect the others.

Taking a breath, Raiden walked over to the sleeping wolf, and picked up his rear. Though he held the wolf awkwardly, he was able to lift the large doggo. He was somewhat glad Jane took his front paws- that way if wolf woke up he'd see his friend first, rather than a complete stranger.