Young Writers Society

Damascus had heard Engel call out for him, saying something he hadn't recognized, and started running again toward his voice. Thankfully, he had been on the right track, because no sooner had he started running than Engel had caught up to him. He quickly scooted forward and scooped up his brother's hand, in an attempt to reassure both of them.

As Engel caught his breath and inquired in that unfamiliar language, Damascus frowned and swung their arms, concentrating hard. He had recognized Schadel's voice, and was quick to nod, his eyes bright in his mission of communication.

"Etiam, inveni Schadel!" (Yes, I found Schadel!) he confirmed, and then pointed wildly the direction he had come from, hoping that would get across better. "Eínai ekeí." (She's over there.)

He was tugging at his brother's hand now, pulling him further into the trees.

"Éla! Tha vobis deíxo!" (Come! I will show you!) he looked over his shoulder enthusiastically.

Schadel frantically tried to wipe away the last of her tears before she left her spot by the tree; she didn't want Engel to see just how much she had been crying. Then she started to head towards where she heard Damascus and Engel speaking. She could have waited for them to come over, but she knew they couldn't understand each other outside of gestures and acting things out.

She stopped awkwardly in the shadow of a tree a few feet away from them, trying to figure out the best way to not scare both of them when she finally did step out to where they were. She could try giving a "Hi," to them, but she would need to say it two times, and the unfamiliar word might scare the brother who didn't know the language.

So she just took a slight step out from behind the tree - just enough so they could see her rough outline when they finally looked in her direction - and made two strands of darkness shoot up from the ground and tap them on the shoulders.

Engel jumped and spun around to see Schadel, a grin instantly lighting up his face. Despite his lack of breath, the boy sprinted over to her and grabbed her up in a bear hug. "Schadel! Ich bin so froh, dass es dir gut geht!" he exclaimed as a wave of relief washed over him. He'd been so worried. He still wasn't sure why she'd run off in the first place, but that mystery could be solved now that he was sure she was in one piece. There were all sorts of monsters in these woods, like wolves and birds and other scary things. He wasn't sure if any of them could actually hurt his sister but even if they couldn't, what if they terrified her? That wouldn't be good, either.

Damascus gave a little joyful giggle as he watched Engel run and hug Schadel. He made his way over and put his arms around them both- which was a little hard, since his arms were barely long enough to reach both of their waists.

He snuggled his face into the center of their huddle and beamed.

"Vlépo?" he murmured happily. "Eímaste omnes simul tóra." (See? We're all together now.)

"Yup," she said to Damascus, returning both his and Engel's hugs, "we're all together now."

They stayed like that for a few more minutes. Schadel didn't really want to move; it felt comfortable being in an embrace with two of her brothers. But the hug eventually had to come to an end, so she pulled away and crouched down so was sort of as small as them.

"We need to get back," she said, saying it to Damascus in one language and repeating it to Engel in the other. "Our brothers are going to get worried if we're gone too long."

But the woods were really dark, she didn't have a light, and the last time they had ventured into the woods she had lost the person she was with. It would be really bad if that happened again.

After a moment of deep thought, she came up with an idea.

"I can carry both of you back!" she suggested, silver eyes shining with the idea. "Then we can stick together and get back quickly!"

Damascus nodded quickly at Schadel's logic. He stared around him at the dark forest, and stood a bit closer to his siblings. They might have gotten scared otherwise.

When Schadel made her next suggestion, his eyes widened and he turned to look at her.

"Whoa! Really?" he gasped. "Are you sure you're strong enough for that?"

"Definitely!" Schadel reassured him. "Reapers are stronger than humans - we can lift anything if we really think about it. I could easily lift you and Engel!"

"Whoa," Engel said, eyes wide. That meant she was stronger even than the other boys. Everyone always said that women and girls couldn't do the same things as men, but Schadel obviously could, so he wondered who'd come to that conclusion. "You're awesome."

Though she wasn't using a human form, her face grew warm at the compliment. People never said she was awesome - well, Rekune did, but he was Blanx's boyfriend, and relatives had a rule were they couldn't insult their family.

"Thanks..." she said, shyly ducking her head down.

But, since both of her brothers seemed okay with the idea of being held, she scooped both of them up and headed back towards the others. It was a little hard figuring out how to hold them, but she finally got the hang of it after shifting them around a little.


Edward had spent the first few minutes staring out into the darkness of the woods. He should have known that it would take them some time to get back - Schadel did seem pretty upset - but he didn't like having to wait so long. He wandered back to the center of the clearing, and it was there he found the flower crown that had fallen off earlier.

He remembered seeing it get crushed by one of Schadel's tentacles, but it wasn't that bad. The flowers still looked nice, and it fit just as snug as before. He found a few flowers, too. He couldn't tell if they were from the crown or his hair, but he put them in the braids to be on the safe side. Then the flower crown was returned to its right spot on his head, and he returned to Boris and James as they stared out into the darkness.

Damascus let out a small squeal as he was picked up, and wrapped his arms around Schadel's neck. As they made their way back to the others, he tried to stay as still as he could, to make it easier on his sister.

"Wow! You really are strong." he whispered excitedly, resting his chin on his palm, which was perched on her shoulder. "I wish I was this strong in my real form. Do you think I will be, someday? Maybe when my horns grow in?"

"I'm sure you will be!" Schadel eagerly replied in his language, silver eyes sparkling at the thought. "And even if you're not normally as strong as me, I'm sure you can get stronger if you exercise!"

Damascus beamed and nodded eagerly.

"I'm so glad you think so! And, I'll try my best to get even better at doing biiig forms- I can be strong that way, too!" he flexed his arms in excitement.

Boris took one look at Edward with his flower crown, and smirked.

"You look like a girl." he blurted. Then, too late, he remembered something else he had been meaning to say.

"And I'm sorry I was mean to you before." he said, more quietly.

"We should do more forms when we get back," Schadel suggested with an enthusiastic nod. "That's what Edward and I were going to do before you all got back!"


Edward turned to see Boris smirking at him. Even after the apology was reluctantly given, he wasn't feel all that forgiving.

He crossed his arms.

"There's nothing wrong with looking like a girl," he said. "Girls are cool."

He thought for a second, readjusting his flower crown so it wasn't slipping off of his head as much.

"Schadel was the one who made the crown and braided my hair," he added. It wasn't just an insult to girls in general - it was an insult to their sister, and that was an even worse offense.