Young Writers Society

Jaron nodded. "Thanks," he mumbled, shrinking down into his fox form. "I'll, keep that in mind."

He crawled his back under the table, this time pulling out a roll of tape and peering at the different colors of wires. Best to have something to make the black ones a bit easier to spot in the darkness.

Punishment.

Carter wasn't being punished by Bear, he was just being brought to his senses. He tried to get a read on the paired person standing before him and wondered what experiences they must have had with Bear.

What had Bear said to make them think their relationship was so dependent? And why was Bear the one defaulted to as the dominant?

Frankly by that Carter was a bit offended.

"Well Cathal, it wasn't punishment. I was being a douche and he called me out on it. We're really just friends, occasionally platonic bed mates, but did he give some indication of us being something else?"

While waiting for Cathal's response, Carter started wondering about the right time to slip in, "I'm not gay. I'm just not interested in anyone that way."

"Ae you not his Jaffa?" he asked, frowning at Carter and then glancing towards where Bear stood. "Is he not your Goa'uld master?" His frowned deepened as he took in the red mark again, wondering again why it wasn't a bruise.

Because Bear did not hit him hard, Cathal, Nauda told him, his mental voice gentle and chiding. He was not intentionally cruel and violent. It was a gentle tap to tell him he was being an idiot. Why do you insist on thinking that Bear is a Goa'uld?

His eyes glowed, Cathal whisperd back, gaze drifting back to Carter's cheek. Why would he not be a Goa'uld, Nauda? He is like me!

No, Nuada corrected him gently. He is not.

Cathal shook his head and looked away, down at where Arryn lay again. "What is this... douche you speak of? What is this 'gay' you mention?" he asked, curious now and conflicted. Nuada had always told him that Goa'uld were cruel and violent, an arrogant people, but Bear wasn't like that. He'd not intended to seriously hurt Carter. "I do not understand your words sometimes..."

Ollie nodded and as Fern fell into step beside Taleweaver. "You're like a solar panel," she mused. It was too bad there was a storm outside - they could have just gone into the sun peeking through one of the cracks in the ceiling, and the problem would have been solved. "If we don't find something on the way, we can check the library to see where the castle's generator is."


Noting the impeding threat - and feeling a reasonable jolt of fear - he withdrew the weapon from his side and promptly shot the oncoming black blur with it. The figure, whoever it was, fell to the ground and a paralyzed heap, and he realized that using it was a good way to avoid interactions. He turned back to the shed and started heading towards the one lingering in the doorway.


"It...It wasn't like that," Benji quietly corrected. "I was upset. I...I said something I shouldn't have said. I'm sorry."

Daniel took another deep breath.

"It's okay," he said. "I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable. I just don't think before I speak sometimes, and I'm so used to...you know-"

He suddenly fell silent.

There was something out in the hallway. He had no indication other than the smell. It was unfamiliar, but smelled like a collection of things he knew well - of slime, of something almost like Play-doh, and, strangely enough, chocolate. It overwhelmed the scent of whatever was with it, though he could say that both of the smells were lingering in the library as well.

He glanced over at Benji.

He had gone rigid, his posture much straighter than before as he stared at the door. He must have heard something, and Daniel suspected that something was the same thing he was smelling.

"Something's coming," Benji whispered, eyes never leaving the door.

"Something not normal," Daniel added. "I don't think it's human."

"It's big," Benji said. "I think it might be taller and heavier than me. There's two sets of footsteps, and each has two feet."

There was a moment of hesitation.

"...Bigfoot?" he guessed.

Daniel glanced over at him. "I don't think Bigfoot smells like slime, Play-doh and chocolate."

"How...?"

He shrugged. "I don't know - I just say it as I smell it. But the smell is getting stronger, and if you can make out how many are coming-"

The door suddenly began to creak open.

Red briefly flashed in Daniel's eyes. He had to fight back the impulses for now. Maybe the something was a very tall bodybuilder who liked Play-doh and slime, and at excessive amount of chocolate. He doubted that theory, but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious.

The something wasn't a bodybuilder or Bigfoot.

As whatever the thing was stepped through the door, Daniel felt like he was looking at a moving fire. Reds, oranges and yellows simulated flames all across the thing, swirling in constant motion. A pair of large white slits made up the eyes, and the mouth was filled with teeth that put a shark's to shame.

"That's not a cryptid," Daniel guessed.

Benji gave a slow nod in acknowledgement.

"Hi," the thing said, in a voice that was surprisingly feminine.

Taleweaver walked into the room after her and their tear shaped eyebrows shot up when they saw the twins. "You two should not be here. Why?"

The twins looked at Tale in astonishment. "Taleweaver?"

"Is that you?"

"Why aren't you a mask?"

"Did you possess someone?"

Tale held up a hand. "I was granted this form by my-" They muttered a word and then said bosses.

"Oh."

"Okay."

Carter sighed as Cathal spit out the series of questions. His mind starting forming appropriate answers to educate the alien in front of him who must have been quite unaware of any human practices.

“Well a douche is a hygiene process but it’s also someone who is extremely obnovus.”

He wanted to add the clarification of “an asshole”, but something told Carter that would only confuse the poor soul more.

“And I assume that a Goa’uld and Jaffa relationship is some sort of alien, dependent, dominant and submissive dynamic relationship,” Carter paused while resuming his straddle on the library chair and directing Cathal to sit across from him. “Like I said, Bear and I are just best friends.”

Cathal eased into the opposite seat and Carter tried to form his last answer before they got impatient.

“Being Gay means being a homosexual.”

Still a blank look.

“So humans have mainly three divisions of gender: male, female, and non-binary. And if you’re attracted to someone of your own gender, then you’re a homosexual. And gay is just a slang term.”

Carter glanced over to where Bear was standing, “When I said I wasn’t gay and wasn’t interested in anyone, well that’s a talk on human sexuality you might not be able to understand...”

Evaric landed with a jolt, glancing up in time to see the rings disappear. He snorted and stood up, dusting off his ass. Trust Ishkur to shove him into the rings so abruptly that he landed on his ass, the bastard. He turned in a full circle, trying to figure out where he was. Evaric deduced that he appeared to be in some sort of ancient castle, in one of the towers--and there was a low humming coming from all around him. Thunder rumbled overheard, and he could hear water dripping somewhere nearby. He grinned beneath his mask.

"Well," he said and stretched his arms over his head. "This is about to get very interesting..."

He looked over the strange things that the Goa'uld man had given him, checking that the communicator and the Zat'nik'tel were still on his person. They were, so he went over to the window and looked out. Two moons, slightly greener sky than he was used to, and were those white-stemmed flowers in the garden? He leaned casually against the windowsill, pulled his hood up over his head and just took it all in for a moment. It was very different to Sankar, but not less beautiful.

Very interesting, indeed.

With a dark, little chuckle, Evaric touched the bracelet on his left wrist and concentrated. It wouldn't do not to let his son know that he was there. Time for a little... greeting.

***

Cathal just blinked at the human and then sighed. "I see, and yes, it is...of a sort." He looked away, frowning as Nuada muttered about obnoxious asses to him. "But... The Goa'uld pretend to be gods to their people and control them through fear and violence. They kill and destroy any who would even dare to think about opposing them."

He wasn't sure how else to explain them, so he shifted slightly to peer down at Arryn again. He didn't get the chance to say anything else as Arryn suddenly arched up with a scream, eyes flying open--but they were wide and unseeing. Cathal jerked back from him, startled, and up onto his feet, knocking the chair over in the process. Nuada started muttering a string of curses in his native tongue as all they could do was watch the bracelets spark and Arryn convulsing in pain. After a moment, he collapsed against the floor, panting harshly.

"Whoever..." he rasped, staring up at the dark ceiling, "it is that... has the... other... bracelet... had better freaking.... stop doing that..." He grimaced. "I swear, I'm... gonna take.... their freaking... head."

"Other bracelet?" Cathal asked, concerned, and came closer to kneel on the floor next to the man. Nuada echoed the sentiment. "Arryn?"

"Control bracelet," the human muttered and turned his head to find Cathal's gaze with his own pained one. "Someone has it.... It's... how they can hurt me... without actually being here..."

"I... see," he muttered back, and frowned deeply at the still-glowing gems set into Arryn's bracelets. "Any ideas on who it might be?"

Arryn snorted. "I may... have... one or two..."

Oh. Oh crap.

In the space of a flash of light, Lunis had gone from barreling to the stranger on all fours to an upside-down panther slumped against a tree. And now the figure was heading for Zech. The tiger didn't think he'd be happy to run into them, whatever they were out for (blood? revenge?).

Taking a couple deep breaths, Zech sprinted out into the rain, making a wide arc around the figure. Hopefully he'd be able to dodge the figure's shots, and hopefully he'd be able to get to Lunis. Who was hopefully still alive, or Zech would be a little angry.



Well, Benji and Daniel had made up, Arryn was awake (if in a lot of pain - Thytes had shivered when he'd heard Arryn's screams), and a very familiar chocolate-smelling person stood in front of him.

"Ollie!" Thytes said with a wave. He tilted his head, staring at the fiery colors that enveloped her. "Is this the protective coating I heard about?"

Control switched between the two of them.

"How did you know it was me?" Ollie asked in Fern's voice, feeling just as self-conscious as Fern was feeling as Thytes looked them over. Fern shifted about uneasily on her body. After a moment passed, they came to the mutual decision: Ollie wasn't in any danger, so it would be alright to let Fern pull back a little.

And since there was no need to hide anymore, Fern appeared as a little blob with a miniature version of her face on Ollie's shoulder - only to hide in Ollie's hood seconds later.

She heard a startled cry from behind her.

Spinning around, she found an unfamiliar man. He was tall, with a ponytail, and his eyes didn't look quite right - neither did the ones of the man trying to pull his arm away from Ollie's hood.

"Don't do that," the second man hissed.

"But I wanted to see what it was," the first replied.

"Did you just...?" she hesitantly began, trying to figure out if he had poked Fern. Then her gaze shifted, and she realized that there was more going on in the library than she had initially noticed: Cathal was talking with Arryn, and Arryn was on the ground in a lot of pain.

While the first man lingered by her and Thytes, the second man went over to Arryn.


"Is there any way to get the control bracelet off?" Benji asked, voice hesitant and quiet as he came to a stop a few feet away from Arryn. "I...I know a few spells. I might know one that can help."


There was no need to shot the other figure - there was a clear pathway to the shed now. He returned his weapon to his side and slipped inside the building, digging around until he found the lever that opened the staircase to the generator down below.

Then he slipped inside, giving the occasional glance up the staircase to make sure he wasn't being followed.

Taleweaver walked over to Arryn with the twins tagging along. Tale's movements were starting to get sluggish and stiffer. "Can lasers remove the bracelet?"

Setting a paw on his hip and briefly glaring at Daniel, Thytes turned to Ollie and said, "Ah, it is what I remember hearing from some of the others here, particularly Bear. Am I incorrect in that? Fern certainly seems rather close and protective, if shy."



The good news was, if the gentle rise and fall of Lunis's chest was anything to go by, he was still alive.

The bad news was Zech wasn't quite sure what had happened to Lunis. The panther, awkward and uncomfortable as he looked with his legs dangling over his head, didn't move a muscle. The snarl on his face didn't change as Zech crouched down, grabbed him by the shoulders, and hauled him up.

The tiger glanced back at the shed, barely visible through the sheets of rain. As much as the idea scared him, he got the sense that he needed to head back there. He couldn't see anything else resembling a building, and he needed to know what the figure had done to Lunis.

So, slinging the panther over his back, Zech stumbled back towards the shed.

Arryn blinked up at Benji and frowned. "Yeah...but you'd need to be the one who put them on me, or the one who made 'em." He pushed up onto his elbows with another grimace, glancing about the room and slowly taking it all in. "Dunno... how your magic will react to it, or how the bracelets will react to your magic."

"A dilemma," Cathal murmured from where he knelt beside him. Arryn glanced towards him and nodded. Cathal stood up slowly.

"Yes," Arryn said, and took the hand Cathal offered him and let the other young man haul him up onto his feet. "I don't know if any kind of magic or physical force will work, but you're welcome to try if you don't mind getting shocked along with me."

Cathal released him and Arryn shifted to lean against the table. He took a couple of deep breaths and then collapsed into the nearest chair. A glance at the bracelet told that whoever had the control bracelet was actually nearby. The slower the gems pulsed, the closer they were. And the gems were pulsing like a heartbeat, neither too slow nor too fast. Arryn figured they had to be on the planet somewhere. Which meant that they were probably in the castle.

"Shit," he muttered, and glanced up to find a strange, sluggishly moving man standing near him. He'd asked a question earlier and Arryn had to take a moment to remember what it was. He frowned deeply again. "I don't know what a...laser is or if it'll work." He shrugged, planted his elbows on the table and dropped his head into his hands. "So, what'd I miss while I was being casually tortured?"

Carter stepped forward to the previously unconscious person, extending his hand and said, "You were already previously occupied with electrical shock induced unconsciousness when I introduced myself before."
He removed his hand and did a slight bow while saying, "Deputy Carter Lincoln, at your service."

Bear was glancing nervously between Carter, Thytes and Arryn. While he was glad to have Arryn back, this would surely make the conversations even more awkward going forward. Carter must have noticed his uneasiness because Bear saw him mouthing an "oh" from across the room.

Carter laid his slightly chipping, black painted nails against Arryn's shoulder and watched a small amount of glitter fall off.
"I'm Bear's other, other, basically boyfriend."

"No, you're correct in that," Ollie confirmed. "Fern is a symbiote, and I'm her host. It's...It's a little hard to explain the relationship, but she's not just a covering. She's her own person, but she doesn't like to talk too much."


Behind the woman (Ollie), Daniel was in the middle of trying to talk to the symbiote. He had overheard some of the conversation and figured out her (?) name, which seemed to be Fern, but she hadn't actually said any words to him. She had just given a startled cry when he tried to touch her, which was probably a justified response.

"Hey there, little guy," he sound, crouching down so he was looking right at her wide, nervous white slits. Fern ducked farther into Ollie's hood. "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you."

Fern hide even farther down.

He thought for a moment, then cupped his hands around his mouth and leaned a little closer. "I'm not normal either, see?" His eyes - which no one could see in the darkness - flashed red for the briefest of moments and he muttered the words to a familiar spell. Four of his teeth elongated into fangs, and he gave her a grin.

Fern stared at him for a moment.

Lowering his hands, he uttered the words that made his teeth looked like regular old ones-

-only for Fern to cry out again and dive underneath Ollie's jacket.

Ollie spun around and stared at him, and he raised his hands in mock surrender. Why did Fern have to get so scared of that? Her teeth were worse!

"What did you do?"

"I just talked to her," he said. "That's all."


"A laser might not be the best idea," Benji hurriedly said, glancing over at Taleweaver. "It might not be that exact, and we're not even sure it would work on the bands. Finding the person who put those on might be our best bet, but we don't even know what this place looks like..."

"I have an idea," a voice suddenly piped up from another part of the room. He turned to see the woman from earlier digging through her backpack and withdrawing an old, worn leather-bound notebook. "I found this on the table. It was left by the person Fern and I saw earlier - it looks like it has some notes on the history of the castle, so maybe it'll have a map as well. We just need to be able to read the pages, but it's too dark in here thanks to the storm..."


The room was covered in a thick layer of dust, but that was no surprise - he rarely ventured down to it, and no visitor ever stayed long enough to find it. He wandered through the room with the lamp he had left near the entrance, its gentle flames casting a dim light onto all in the room.

He eventually found what he was looking for - a few loosely connected pieces here and there. It was in great need of work, but the simple fix was to reconnect them; the loud thunder of Miri's occasional storms tended to shake them loose.

As he pushed the last one in, light flooded the room and the castle. He blew out the flame of the lamp, placing it down beside him as he dug through his bag. Now that he no longer had the advantage of darkness, he would have to rely on other measures to deal with the newest waves of visitors: a cloak covering most of his body, gloves and a mask that was secured neatly on his face.

He returned to the staircase and placed the lamp on the table beside it before beginning his ascent back up.

Now that Ollie had switched to talking about the notebook and finding a map of the castle (so as to find the person who Thytes would literally or otherwise be happy to disarm), that left Thytes with Daniel.

Setting a paw on Daniel's shoulder, Thytes looked at him and said, "Now, keeping in mind that Fern is shy, do you feel your actions were especially justified?"

Before Fern could respond, a click echoed over Thytes's head, light flashing back into the room and blinding the lion. Throwing his paws over his eyes, Thytes growled in surprised. At least he could see better now, but the timing was less than convenient.



Well, Zech hadn't seen that staircase before.

He peered down, catching the light that emanated from the room at the bottom of the stairs. To say nothing of the figure shrouded in darkness slowly walking up the staircase.

Taking a couple deep breaths, Zech extended a paw. "Hey!" he stammered, shaking off water and jostling the panther so his head was draped over Zech's shoulder. "Please tell me what you did to Lunis. Please tell me he's alright."