Young Writers Society

"Company?" Loki awkwardly replied, sending a glance in the direction of his snake. All that Icarus could do was stare as the snake gave what looked to be a reptilian shrug - he raised himself up and briefly hunched, tail held out questioningly. "We were on a lifeboat and ended up on this island. We thought we were the only ones here, but then we heard you."

He raised a hand to scoot the snake a little closer to his neck. "And Thor's...special. That's all."

Quietly to Flynn, Carter made the slight remark of, "If only we could have had Bear here today to talk to that snake."

He only hummed back to Carter's joke, ignoring the smoke that Carter blew into Flynn's ear. Carter stepped away from Flynn and moved closer to the people who had just been introduced, carefully studying their movements. The energy about the snake was all wrong but he hadn't spent all that long studying snakes.

"Yeah...special might be one word for this scenario."

Loki hated situations like these. He hated coming up with an alternate explanation for why Thor was like he was, and pretending that his job was a relatively normal one. They hadn't asked for it yet, but that was only a matter of time. He knew he wouldn't be able to tell the truth. There were at least three people present who weren't human, and another who had magic. If they found who he worked for, he could kiss his and Thor's lives goodbye.

The ultimate problem with Thor was that his story was born out of Loki's job; it was impossible to tell the truth without that being revealed. Even the truth he had believed in for the majority of the time he had known Thor would require some explanation.

And, just in case one of these people did work for the same group he did, he could never say what Thor really was.

"Maybe it's a good idea for us to go now," Loki slowly said, backing up towards the part of the jungle they had just come from. He glanced down at Thor, who was in the middle of giving a very enthusiastic nod.

"So much for our supplies," Kasim said. He stared back through the dense brush of the jungle, picking out the wreckage of the small boat spread out across the sandy beach. "Where did that storm even come from?"

Jamming her machete into a tree that wasn't on the path that they'd spent the past few minutes carving out, Denebola took a long, deep breath. "We have some food and water," she said, looking back gesturing to the cans and jugs he pressed against his chest. "And I don't know."

Kasim, catching the gesture out of the corner of his eye, paused. "Do you want me to make another sweep to find the compass?" he said.

Setting her head against the tree, Denebola sighed. "I don't know - this isn't exactly going according to plan. I'm not even sure this is the right island. I -"

The lionness froze. Kasim turned back to see Denebola close her eyes, ears twitching. Before he could respond, she raised a paw in his direction and slipped into the undergrowth.

And now he was alone. Holding as much as he could carry, not to mention his spear. Roasting in the sun. Perfect for whatever was lurking on the island. This adventuring thing wasn't as fun as Denebola had made it sound.

Flynn was not going to accept the half hearted explanation from Loki, especially not as the curious person was starting to back into the jungle they had just emerged from. As he and Carter had found each person on the island, Flynn knew the best chance of survival was for everyone to stay together.

"And just where do you think you're going, Buster?"

Carter flinched a little bit beside Flynn, taking him just a second to figure out who Flynn was addressing with the remark. If it hadn't of been for all of the people there, Carter would have thought Flynn was interrogating him about something or the other. He really would have to tell Flynn about the boyfriend situation.

If they survived.

If.

"Somewhere not here?" he slowly replied, giving a nervous little laugh as he backed right up into the tree behind them. Thor gave a startled hiss as he almost collided with the bark, and Loki took it as a sign that he needed to slip his best friend back into his pocket. "You all seem like nice people, but it's probably for the best if we leave you - Thor and I can handle ourselves."

Kai waved his arms. "Yeah, you get out of here," he said, watching as Loki and his snake backed into the jungle. The fox wasn't quite sure if the rustling near them was because of them or something else - it seemed a little too big and out of place - but he didn't quite care. They'd scared Niwa, and they needed to go.

Carter watched the man and the snake disappear back into the jungle and quietly wondered why Flynn hadn't confronted them further. They had already made the determination that the best chance for survival was to stick together. Even if the members of their little party hated each other, it still meant more fighters as they went deeper into most definitely dangerous territory.

A slight bit of rustling in the other direction brought him to attention, followed by differing energy signatures.

"Well I don't think we'll be alone for long, folks."

Kai caught the hint of a familiar smell just before the rustle gave way to a lionness sprinting out of the bushes, sweeping Niwa up in her arms, and giving him a hug.

"Denebola?" Niwa said. The fox blinked some tears out of his eyes, then returned the hug.

Before the woman - Denebola - had emerged from the bushes, both Pan and Poseidon had once again prepared for the new arrival. But with the show of force not needed in either of the previous situations, they hadn't done anything beside make their respective weapons appear. The sight seemed to terrify Loki even more than he already was. His eyes widened, and he renewed his attempts to back up - seeming to forget that there was still the tree behind him until his back once again slammed into it - with vigor.

"It's not a good idea to leave," Pan said, approaching the man and his snake. He may not have been a death god, and couldn't see souls like them, but something told him that both Loki and his scaly friend weren't what they seemed. Loki stiffened when Pan was right in front of him. "There's strength in numbers."

He held out a hand.

Loki stared down at it, and Thor nervously peeked out of Loki's pocket to do the same.

"I'm Pan," Pan said. He gestured behind himself at Poseidon and Icarus, the latter of whom was somewhat hiding behind the former. "That's Poseidon and Icarus. The others are Flynn, Carter, Niwa, Kai-"

He stopped when he saw the look flickering across Loki's face. He didn't seem to know the last four names listed, but the names he had spoken before that - even Icarus - had sparked recognition.

Loki went another shade of pale.

"You're really him," he managed to get out. "You-You're really Pan, and that's really Poseidon, and that's-that's Icarus? That-That's..."

Loki gulped.

"I'm so dead," he whispered.

Carrying Niwa, Denebola set a paw on Kai's shoulder and glared at the others. "That's not something I want to hear," she said. "Why is he so afraid of you people? Who are you people?"

Kai pointed at who was either Poseidon or Icarus (Pan hadn't been so clear about where he'd been gesturing). "He beat me up," Kai said.

"And what's the story behind that?" Denebola growled, glaring at the taller man.

"I didn't beat you up," Poseidon protested. He crossed his arms and looked away. "You were the one who attacked us first, and you seemed like a threat to Icarus. I was just protecting him."

Pan gave Poseidon a reassuring pat on the shoulder as he rejoined the other god, keeping his eyes on both Denebola and Loki. "Poseidon and I are both gods, so that might be why he's afraid of us. But I'm not sure why he thinks it's so bad - if I was in his shoes, I'd be scared, but then I'd be a little bit intrigued-"

"I'm too busy being scared to be intrigued," Loki interrupted, paling and stiffening when attention swiftly turned to him. "An-And why didn't you include Icarus?"

Pan stared. "What do you mean?"

"You said that you and Poseidon were gods, but Icarus is one, too," Loki hesitantly said. "It-It's common knowledge, at least in my line of work. He got turned into one after, you know..."

He gestured at Poseidon.

"I'm human," Icarus protested. "I have some magic, but I'm not - I'm not like them."

Pan slowly looked over at Poseidon. He couldn't have made one; it was too soon. But there had been something bugging him about Flynn and Carter earlier, and it seemed like Loki was in a similar boat to them. It was strange to think, but maybe they were from another time.

...Like the future.

Poseidon seemed to come to the same realization that he did, and water immediately burst out of the ground to accompany the red look that had suddenly appeared on the god's cheeks. The water god ducked his head down and scooted a little closer, with a shyness that just didn't fit his friend. But Pan would have been pretty shy, too, if he just figured out that the boy he had feelings for was destined to be with him.

Taking a couple steps back, Denebola growled. "I find it kinda hard to believe anyone would think Kai's a threat," she said (ignoring how Kai immediately gave her a hurt look), "And I think I'm going to stay pretty scared of some gods and future gods."

"I'm a human," Icarus once again tried to protest, but neither Poseidon, Pan or even Loki were paying attention to them. Loki was watching the exchange between Denebola and Poseidon, and Pan was watching it, too.

"He hurled himself out of a tree at me," Poseidon said, exasperated. His earlier embarrassment - if that had been what it was - had faded entirely. Now he just seemed frustrated as he bridged the gap between himself and Denebola. "And I didn't see him at first, so I didn't know what to expect."