Young Writers Society

"Twins," Ethan muttered, glancing between the two. "Fascinating." He cleared his throat and backed up a couple of steps. "I'm Ethan... and I think I've said that a few times now." He flushed and glanced down. "I'm sorry... I kind of... start rambling when I get nervous and I'm really nervous right now and I don't know where I am and I wish my boyfriend was here and Nich says that's something I should probably, I don't know, work on? It's a terrible habit and I'm so sorry--"

Suddenly, a loud thump and then a crash echoed up from somewhere deep in the bowels of the ship. Ethan look to Puck, then to the twins and back. He frowned and shifted his stance, clearly uncomfortable about the entire situation.

"Uh, that definitely wasn’t me," he said, grimacing. "Um, guys? Something tells me we're not alone on this ship...."

Kendrik didn't know what was so fascinating about twins, but the noise caught his attention. Setting an arm in front of Kynan, Kendrik glared in the direction of the noise. "Yer talkin's gonna be the least of our problems," Kendrik growled. "'less the thing hasn't heard us yet, or it's some other stranger who got dumped here, but I ain't got that lucky in a while."

"Something's telling me that, too," Puck agreed, straightening and looking at the three gathered near him. He clapped his hands together. "Well, if it's not here for me, we should be safe - unless it's Arthur, but Artie's the exception. He's the one person I want looking for me, so I hope that's him."

Kendrik gave Puck a sideways glance. "An' who d'ya think'd come here fer ya?" he said. "Can't see anythin' or anyone that'd want ta be 'round ya fer long."

Puck didn't let himself get phased by the dig. Instead, he shrugged and treated it like a potential joke - if he just kept irritating Kendrik, Kendrik would never put much thought into who would be after him.

"Funny - that's what they said, too. Maybe that's the reason they want to lock me up. They just can't stand my wonderful personality."

"Sure," Kendrik said, rolling his eyes. "I've been thrown in prisons with better personality. Maybe that's why they can't lock ya up - all the doors'd fly open an' kick ya out."

In the meantime, Kynan tapped on Puck's shoulder. "My brother's not going to be helpful," he whispered. "So, uh, who's trying to hunt you down?"

He faltered.

Of course someone to ask the questions.

He thought for a moment, trying to pick from the various options. He could say that truth, but he wasn't sure he wanted to - it would make everyone panic far more than necessary, and he seriously doubted they'd be in trouble.

...But he also couldn't come up with a good answer, so it looked like the truth was what he was going for.

"The Norse gods," he nonchalantly said. "They don't bother anyone but me these days - and Artie, but he's targeted because he's associating with me."

Kynan's tap on the shoulder turned into something more like a death grip. "Gods?" Kynan hissed, eyes bulging.

Which got Kendrik's attention. "What's the problem?" he said, narrowing his eyes as he looked over at Kynan and Puck. "Why's he lookin' like that? What did ya say ta my brother?"

Puck held his hands up in mock surrender.

"I just said who was after me," he protested. "That's all. It's the Norse gods. But, like I told your twin, they don't really do much except chase after me and my friend Artie these days, so you'll all be fine if they're the reason for that noise."

"Gods?" Kendrik shouted, gripping onto Puck's shoulders and gritting his teeth. "The f*** did ya do to p*** off gods?"

He gave a small shrug, ignoring how Kendrik had his hands on his shoulders.

"Probably being born," he said. He lowered his hands and put one underneath his chin in a musing way. "They never did like me..."

Kendrik grimaced. "Ya got people to hate ya from the moment ya were born? Almost impressed, but not in a good way." He knew that it was probably because of Puck's parents, or some title given to Puck, or whatever powers that Puck had - the gods in the stories always seemed about as dramatic and petty as royalty - but he didn't exactly want to have a reason to not hate Puck.

"Gods?" Ethan perked up slightly. He moved closer to the group. "That's gotta suck, man."

"I'm used to it," Puck replied. That was a bit of an exaggeration, but he knew he was playing his part well. He still wasn't fully used to being chased after by the gods he had once known, and still wasn't used to the knot of guilt that had settled in his chest ever since the accident.

"I ain't gonna have ya at the front of the group, then," Kendrik said. "Who knows what ya could p*** off."

Kynan looked over at Ethan. "Could you lead us?" said Kynan. "Since you're, uh, a little strong."