Young Writers Society

"I'll admit that things haven't gone exactly to plan," Kartiel said, choosing his words carefully. Why did Aegeas and the others have to keep poking holes in his responses? Saying the truth was out of the question, but the thought of just giving it as an answer instead was a tempting one. "But watching you has been an enjoyable experience, wraith battle, drinking and body swapping included."

In all honestly, everything described had been absolutely miserable, but he was sure the smile on his face would never let them realize that.

The otter grit his teeth, but he didn't say anything. He chose to shove Kartiel back and turn around, walking off. "You're lying," he called out, heading to the other side of the room. "I don't know what the truth is, but I guess I'm not going to get it out of you, so let's run off to whatever planet you want all of us to die on."

Bo had a gut feeling that the more they poked holes in Kartiel's story, the more in trouble they would all be - Kartiel included. He kind of wished he picked up on it earlier, but Aegeas's final question was what made it click.

He guessed he'd just have to pretend to be dumber than he was. The least helpful thing would probably be to point that out.

"Well, there's no guarantee that we'll die. But yeah, I feel like we should probably just get to it."

Kartiel led their group to the stargate. Maahes's essence twisted and churned at the thought of whatever lay ahead; he had been through enough stargates to know it was impossible to predict what was on the other side. Anything was possible. Kartiel didn't even let them stop by the armory for weapons - he just kept heading towards to the main room. When they finally arrived, he plugged in the coordinates, and the wormhole quickly opened up.

He gestured for them to enter.

Maahes, being the only one who was remotely used to this sort of thing, took a deep breath and took the first step through. Nadira and Codix followed through just as he was halfway into it, and then he suddenly was on a completely different planet. It was populated by a thick plethora of trees with trunks in strange shapes, and a heavy and thick mist clung to the forest floor.

In the distance, he heard the sound of animals giving unfamiliar cries, but it was too dark to make out where they were coming from.

"At least he left us some weapons," Codix quietly said from beside him.

Maahes glanced down.

There was a pile of weapons at his feet, but Maahes felt like they would do nothing to protect the group from whatever lurked in the darkness of this forest.

Bo already had his sci-fi gun out and ready as he stepped through the portal door behind Nadira and Codix. His eyes only briefly fell on the pile of weapons by the door. He was already packed. He would leave those for the others.

He took a few steps forward, meeting up beside Maahes at the head of the group. Maahes clearly was more experienced in space travel, but Bo was determined to defend the rest of the group with his life. Of course, he didn't want it to come to that. He knew that if he did die, there was a 90% chance he'd wake up in his original body, but if not... well, he'd rather it be him.

Whatever. In any case, he was alert and listening intently to their surroundings. From what little he could gather, they were in some kind of jungle. Whatever fearsome creatures awaited them, he wanted to be ready.

"Well, I guess, pick from the ones you want. If he left them for us, we shouldn't leave them to waste. Let's hope they'll be helpful."

Taking a cue from Bo, I ignored the pile of weapons, and took a position gaurding the rear. I would not deign to acknowledge Kartiel's kernel of hospitality. I would make it out of this using my own means.

"Once we have chosen from these weapons, I propose we bury the remainder. We don't know what else is out there, and I don't fancy the idea of leaving these out for them."

Aegeas was (almost) the last one to stumble his way through the portal. A headache and surprisingly weak limbs had pushed him through the disorienting, vibrating gate and onto the moss-covered earth.

He pulled himself up unsteadily, staring up at his strange surroundings. As much as he'd convinced himself that he could get used to anything after Atlantis, he threw that idea aside in a heartbeat. It was almost like some of the forests he'd been to before (and he'd been to a long of them), but wrong. The noises were wrong, the trees were wrong, the thick air was wrong. He could feel his fur stand up as a chill settled over him.

When he saw the weapons next to where he kneeled, he impulsively reached for them. Grabbing the biggest one he could find - some kind of cannon, he hoisted it up. Fitting his arms through the straps, he realized a tad too late that it stretched over his head. But it made him feel a little better.

"A-alright," he said, looking around at the others as he squeezed his way into the middle of the group. "What now?"

Raiden sauntered over to the stargate as it was called, but just before he jumped in, he turned back to Kartiel.
"So...Kart. Buddy. Friend. Pal," he began, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he spoke.
"Is there going to be ice-cream? How high is the possibility that we will die? Will you come with? Also...do you mind if I take one of your underwear as a spare? Just in case?"

Maahes looked around at the other people present; Raiden still hadn't come through yet, but there was no harm in answering Aegeas's question now instead of later. It barely registered that no one had decided on who the leader of the group was - someone needed to come up with something to do, and he was the one with the most interstellar traveling experience.

"I think we should get as many weapons as we possibly can, and follow up with Boris's suggestion," Maahes said. He glanced down at said weapons. "If we don't bury them, we should hide them in a place we can easily access. After that, we should probably figure out what our skills are so we can tackle this easier."

Codix and Nadira glanced at each other and then nodded in agreement.

"That does seem like a good place to start," Nadira added.


Kartiel studied Raiden for a moment, gaze never leaving his face as he thought over what his test subject had said.

Then he oh-so-casually pushed him into the stargate; he tried not to be too satisfied with the decision as he went to turn the ancient device off.

"Skills?" Aegeas said. "I'm really good at stabbing things and not dying, but I'm getting the impression that's not going to be helpful in a world that none of us have ever been to before." He raised a hand to his forehead and started laughing nervously, staring at the weapons on the ground.

Maahes gave Aegeas a small smile. "You'd be surprised by how helpful that is when exploring new worlds, actually," he replied. He leaned down and dug through the weapons. He still had his zat'nik'tel on him, but that could only do so much. He eyed what looked to be a hilt of a futuristic sword. When he turned it on, a beam of light shot out - it was essentially a light saber. He made sure to slip it into his pocket.

Nadira and Codix both leaned down and began to stock up on items. It was strange seeing two children act so casual around things meant to kill other people and living creatures; neither one seemed phased by half of the weapons. They each grabbed a large assortment of smaller ones and slid them into their pockets, and Nadira also slung a pole weapon over her shoulder.

The two stood back up.

"I'm not sure how helpful this will be, but I can usually integrate with any technology I find," Nadira said. "I'm also a pretty decent fighter."

"I can change my form, but only for a limited amount of time. It's a big margin, and I've had time to rest - so it shouldn't be too small. But if I do it for too long, you start seeing my actual appearance." He glanced over at Nadira, slipping his hand into hers after a moment of hesitation. "I can't integrate with technology, but I'm good at analyzing and modifying it. I'm also pretty good at fighting."

Maahes scanned the forest, just to be on the safe side. "Like Codix, I can change my form for a limited amount of time. It's a little different with me - I feel pain when I keep it constant for too long, but I've grown used to it. I can take on the form of pretty much anything. I'm good with technology, understand Alteran culture - the people who made the stargate we just walked through - and have a small range of magical attacks. I also know a lot about surviving on other worlds, but I'm not sure how useful that knowledge will be in a completely different galaxy."

"It's the closest we've got. I'm sure your knowledge will do us well, Maahes.

I'm nothing special, just a chatty bloke with a knife.
My outdoorsmanship is rusty. I'm decent with the bolt-action rifle, should we desperately need more firepower, though I daresay these weapons here are a tad more, ah... advanced, than what I am accustomed to.

But, if we encounter any alien beasts that speak German, Russian, Polish, or French, my presence will be invaluable." I added optimistically, in the hopes of lifting some of the tension.

"I'm pretty accustomed to camping and have some survival skills under my belt," Bo said with a smile, patting his literal belt, which was still filled with guns. "I'm a skilled fighter in various forms of weaponry and hand-to-hand combat and I've got good aim for a guy with one eye, but I can't wink, so just imagine I winked after I said that."

He snapped his fingers and pointed a finger gun at Maahes. "I'm also a great cook, but I've never cooked alien food before, so that'll be one heck of a learning curve if we're looking at local fauna and flora for edible stuff."

"Guess I'm pretty useless then," Raiden said, rolling over. He had fallen through the gate and decided - instead of getting up - to roll.
"I mean, I'm good at noticing details? Like, things that aren't supposed to be there. I think. Oh, I also have a phone."
He pulled out his cellphone.
"Ayy, sixty-nine percent. Nice."

"That's a detail, but why is it a nice one?" Aegeas said, glaring at the strange device in Raiden's hand.