Young Writers Society

As they wandered through the castle, the craving grew stronger. She couldn't quite figure out why - she was still so new to this, and she had never been in a situation like this since the incident. Maybe it was stress - she knew she was feeling a slight sense of worry, even if she felt safe. She still had no idea where she was, and knew relatively little about Thytes and Jaron.

She slipped her hand into her pocket, withdrawing a small wrapped up piece of chocolate. She stuffed the wrapper back into her pocket as she popped the chocolate into her mouth; the chocolate melted on her tongue. It was nothing more than a snack, but it was enough to temporarily quell the cravings.

After more searching, they finally found the library. There was still a door in its archway, unlike the entrance to the garden, but its age was incredibly evident. When she went to push against it, the door let loose a loud creak. There was a jolt of pain that followed, and it took another moment for her to regain her calm.

But then she slipped inside.

Books lined the walls, as well as a plethora of strange, unfamiliar pieces of technology. They were nothing like what she had seen on Earth before; she couldn't even begin to put names to half of them.

"Not alone," the voice hissed. She spun towards the source of the movement - she could make out the form of a figure receding into the depths of the shelves. She went to go chasing after said figure, only to stop when she saw the book that had been left out on the table.

Calling it a book was a bit of a stretch - it was more like a notebook, laid out beside a pile of old looking books. The script was sprawling and unfamiliar, but she could already hear more whispers. She didn't have to know the language; she had a handy translator on hand.

"It's a history of this place," she said, picking up the notebook and holding it carefully in her hands. Though the leather was worn, it seemed fairly new compared to the books laid out on the table.

"Look."

She glanced down at the table, running her fingers against the surface. There wasn't a bit of dust anywhere on it - it was as if someone had just cleaned it. "There's no dust," she realized. She looked back in the direction that the figure had disappeared into before turning to Thytes and Jaron. "I think someone lives here."

Ollie's sudden movement had raised his suspicion that they weren't alone, but the notebook had confirmed it. "Oh dear," Thytes said. He walked up to Ollie and peered down at the notebook. Before the lion could comment on the strange text, Jaron tugged at his robes. Thytes crouched down to let Jaron hop off, watching out of the corner of his eye as the fox gravitated to the strange pieces of metal along the walls. Thytes smiled faintly - of course Jaron would like something like that. As long as Jaron didn't stray too far, the lion figured it'd be fine to leave him be.

Now much closer to the script, Thytes frowned. "How do you know what it is?" he said. "And do you know who might have left it? Before we entered the castle, I looked up at a balcony and I swore I saw something, but I believed it was just a trick of the light. I suppose I was wrong about that, apparently."

"Didn't notice. Too hungry." There was a pause, and then a quieter, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she wanted to say, but she was forced to keep her mouth shut under the watchful eye of Jaron and Thytes. She had to settled for gently tapping the table with the tips of her fingers, hoping that the simple yet calm gesture would get the message across.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence. But then the voice - thankfully - returned as she sat down in the chair that had been left at the head of the table. "Not here. Different - need more time to get here."

"I'm not sure if the people we saw were the same person," she said to Thytes, making a mental note to somehow show her gratitude for the insightful observation later. "They might know this place, but it would have taken them time to get here from the gardens. I think whoever was here has been here awhile, though I don't know how long."

Thytes breathed a sigh of relief. He looked back at Jaron, who had hauled one of the chunks of metal onto a table and was currently setting screwdrivers, wrenches, and other tools around it. "I would rather like to believe it was a trick of the light, then. We would be in a vastly worse position to have two strangers in our midst. Though I find it rather odd that someone could live here so long. It is a nice castle, despite how time has worn it down, but I cannot imagine it is always so hospitable."

She looked around the library. Unlike the rest of the castle, it was hard to spot even a minute amount of dust - whoever frequented it treated it with care. But it wasn't the type of thing that would change overnight; it needed time for a transformation like that to occur. Whoever was living here had been living here for quite a long time.

She glanced back in the direction of the doorway. "The person you saw earlier might have been someone in the same situation as us," she guessed. There was also the possibility of them being with the person they had just caught a glimpse of - the thought made anxiety spike up from within, and she tried her best to quell that feeling with another quickly devoured piece of chocolate. The feeling settled, followed by a quiet, "Thank you."

"Before I became used to strange things," she added, giving the table another tap with her fingers to show that she had heard the words of gratitude, "I would have probably watched us without saying anything, too. It's safer when you don't know what you're dealing with, and when you feel like you can't protect yourself."

"Too much." Ollie grabbed the notebook, stuffing it into her backpack as she gave a little tap on its cover. "...Supposed to be weak. Remember?"

She knew she shouldn't have said that, but she couldn't help it. She just felt so much more confident now, and she honestly wasn't scared of a lot of things that would have terrified her before. She was a different woman now - more powerful, more dangerous, and more able to defend herself.

"I think we should try finding the person from the balcony," she suggested. Another jolt of fear, and another piece of chocolate devoured. It was best way to communicate without words right now; the best way to sooth without having to reveal that comfort was needed. "If they're like us, we can share the book. If they're not, then we can ask them more about this place."

The stair case led on for several more stories, jutting out every so often to reveal new chambers and new balconies, but Bear continued on upward. After passing nearly twenty platforms he found himself in a large entry way with banners hanging from the walls and more of the same suits of armor. If he was truly in a castle, this must be the Great Hall.

"Dang."

Plant and animal life was rampant in this open section. Bear felt around the room with his mind, taking time to listen to witness reports from the plants. He wasn't in the mood to interrogate any conifers but if need be he wouldn't stumble. The plants in this room seemed more distressed than the ones in the dungeons, like they feared for the presence of something more than the birds picking at fruit.

To no one in particular, Bear said, "Shh. It's okay. You can tell me what's happening here."

Some of the voices settled enough to make a clear reply to Bear. It started with a series of vague warnings. They were telling him of the dangers of the castle, of the people who trespassed looking for something. The voices couldn't agree on what the 'trespassers' were looking for, but they all feared just the same.

"Does anyone live here?"

Silence followed his question.

"It's okay to tell me."

Still the voices were silent to his ears.

"Are you afraid of whoever lives here?"

The orange vines from the corner snaked down to the floor beside him, neatly forming in the shape of "no", and then swiveled back to their position on the wall. It was confirmation enough that someone was present in the castle and that there was a certain danger to be feared.

Bear wanted to ask more questions, but a sudden hunger passed over him. A quiet conversation with the sentient plants revealed the fruit vines that were safe to eat. He apologized to them for taking the pieces, but thanked them for providing him with such an honor.

They wanted to say no more after accepting his graces and the vines guided Bear through the castle. The orange, red, and pink vines ran throughout the entire place, eventually bringing him to a set of symbols that the plants translated for him.

Library.

He leaned around the corner, spotting the people that he had seen from the balcony. A young woman was speaking about his own presence. Bear knew that he should stay in the shadows and keep talking to the vines about information.

Instead, ignoring every ounce of worry bouncing through his system, Bear stepped front and center to the library hall and said, "I heard from a little vine that you were looking for me."

Taleweaver wandered the halls and then walked near the library.

I sense living beings nearby. Perhaps I should check.

They walked into the library, saw the group, and watched them.

The rings disappeared into empty space above them and Cathal hesitated, his grip tightening on the human’s arm. This was not his ship, and it certainly wasn’t the planet he’d intended to transport them to. He took in the rows of bookshelves and the aged, crumbling stone covered in plant life with a frown.

“What is this?” he muttered in Goa’uld and the human struggled, managing to elbow him in the ribs and slip out of his grip. He lunged after the human as the man tried to limp away, and quickly caught him. Cathal switched back to English, hoping this human would understand him. “Stop running away!”

There was a series of startled exclamations behind him, and Cathal spun around to face several beings, both human-looking and apparently not very human-looking. Humanoid, yes, but also furred? He frowned.

This is not exactly a good impression to make upon a first meeting, Nuada, his host, told him. Cathal wiped all expression off his face and slowly took the strangers in.

Not helping, he hissed back and felt Nuada give him the mental equivalent of a shrug. Cathal raised his hand—the one with his kara kesh on it, and activated it. But he didn’t attack. Not yet.

“Who are you?” he demanded in his deep Goa’uld voice. “Where are we? What planet is this?”

Thytes would've questioned why Ollie liked chocolate so much (not that he disagreed, he just didn't feel like it was the appropriate time to eat so much of it), as well as point out that he wasn't the kind of person who liked to hide from others (though, admittedly, he always could protect himself). Still, thanks to the arrival of a few strangers, he found himself a lot more motivated to step back towards Jaron. One of those strangers had a tiny backpack and a smaller version of a gun, so he wasn't much of a threat. The other, however, appeared to be armed with a strange weapon and had some kind of a hostage. Not good at all.

Bumping against the table, Thytes drew his sword. Guessing that Jaron had dived under the table, Thytes reached a paw down there, only to feel Jaron place a small metal sphere into it. Thytes was going for more for "this is a stressful situation and I hope this small gesture makes you feel more safe and secure" instead of "I'm going to blow up the entire library," but Thytes couldn't necessarily disagree with it. Worst came to worst - anyone threatened or harmed him, Jaron, or Ollie - he'd have a threat of his own.

"Not alone," came the warning comment, right before four different people appeared in quick succession. Or maybe it was four - it was hard to tell. She couldn't quite put her finger on why, but the last person didn't seem like he was just one person. Maybe it was in the way his expression suddenly changed, or the way he seemed to be listening to something that only he could hear.

"It's alright," she said to Jaron and Thytes. She was failing at the whole "pretending to be weak" thing, and she knew it, but she didn't want a fight breaking out when it could be easily avoided.

She turned back to the others.

"I'm Ollie," she said. She could feel movement up against her arm - it was just a precaution, she was sure. And a good one, too. That voice didn't sound right; something else was causing it. "That's Thytes and Jaron. You got here just when everyone else did, so I'm not sure who's who just yet. But I'm sure we'd all be happy to share, since it looks like we've all been brought here for a reason."

She gave an awkward smile.

"I'm still trying to figure out what the reason is," she admitted. "I've never been to a planet like this before - I've never been outside of Earth, actually. But I don't think it's all that dangerous. It has a calm sort of beauty, not the dangerous kind. But I'm just a botanist, so I'm not really an expert on alien planets."

"Rambling." She tapped the side of her leg now. She knew she was, and knew she shouldn't. But it made her feel safer, and would hopefully make them not see her as a threat. "...Be careful. Don't want Ollie hurt."

Bear moved back and forth on his feet for a moment, examining the people he had just been introduced to and the further strangers in the next doorway over. The young woman introduced as Ollie looked rather uneasy when she would glance over to the pair. A certain vibe ran through his system as well.

A few moments of silence revealed that the pair were not going to respond to the introduction.

He stepped further into the room, extending a hand to Ollie, winking, and saying, "The name is Bear. Bear Thompson. You come here often, ma'am?"

From the way that Ollie rambled about the planet they were on, and how she kept tapping her leg, Thytes guessed she was nervous. That, combined with the stranger who had just asked her a strange question, made it clear to Thytes that he'd better say something.

"We have never been here before," he said to Bear, then looked over at the armed person and hostage. "Nor can I imagine that any of us have been to a planet quite like this. I do not, however, mean you any harm; odd as these circumstances are, we had best cooperate if we are to escape here." He frowned. "That is how these experiences usually go, if I remember correctly."

She stared.

"Uh, no," she managed to get out, shaking his hand. Did he not hear her when she mentioned that she had never been here before. "This is my first time here...?"

"Flirting. Likes you." There was a pause as Ollie tried to digest the information given; someone was flirting with her after only just meeting her? That was a first. She couldn't even remember the last time she had been flirted with. "...Like him, too?"

She gave a very, very small shake of her head.

"...Like his backpack," was the hesitant response.

She looked at the backpack in question and tried to hide a smile. "It's very nice," she agreed, only to realize that she had answered aloud instead of keeping her thoughts to herself. "The flirt, I mean. I've never been good at flirting, so I'm always impressed when people can."

"...Please be careful."

She tapped her leg again.

"Want to protect," the voice said, more urgent than usual. She gave another small shake of her head. Not now. Not yet. She had to make sure they wouldn't be in danger. "But scared, Ollie. Don't want them to hurt."

"They won't," she wanted to say, but she bit her tongue. She would just have to wait until later to have a proper conversation, even if it broke her heart to hear the worry in the voice that only she could hear.

Thytes was the one to answer Bear first, giving a quick rundown of confusion on Bear's question, which he honestly should have been expecting. The lion figure was quite enthralling, but Bear looked past him to see the outline of his shy friend. The smaller person was tinkering about with something and Bear turned his attention back to the speaking Ollie.

She registered confusion with his flirting and Bear wasn't sure if he should take the comment as a compliment or an insult.

"Oh no worry about that, ma'am. Just a little flirt and a little joke about our situation here."

Bear stepped around her, moving towards the lion and presented his hand.
"We haven't been introduced but perhaps you can tell me how it is I'm always attracted to the cute, blond beanpoles."

Ah, so that's what that was. Well, two could play at that game.

Setting his sword back in its scabbard, Thytes shook Bear's hand. "I do not suppose I am your ordinary beanpole. Are you sure you could handle me?" he said, smirking.