Young Writers Society

The Forest
The Discussion Topic
It has always been there.
No one knows what truly happens in the Forest.
All who enter there do not come back. And no one knows why. The villagers of Rawn are getting worried. They put out a call for three brave warriors to find the Evil of the Forest. To go into the Forest…and return. Alive.

Hey guys! Welcome to the Forest! We will be starting with a guide(me) three adventurers and three forest dwellers, like nymphs and dryads and trees and stuff like that! We might add more if needed. Post in the DT if you want to join!

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Name: Type(adventurer, nymph, tree, etc): Gender:  Description: Age: Weapon: Skills: Weaknesses:

Rya stabbed the bar with her dagger as she waited. The barkeep knew better then to protest. Rya pulled her knife out and stabbed again. Where are those “heroes”? she thought. How much longer are they gonna make me wait? She stabbed the table one more time, then hit the bar, getting the barkeep’s attention.

“I want a margarita on the rocks.” She said.

“Ma’am, this is your third in the past 15 minutes. It is not advisa-“

Rya jumped up and pointed her dagger at the barkeep. “Did I ask?”

“No, ma’am, I’ll get it right away, ma’am.” The barkeep stammered. He ran to grab a glass.

“That’s more like it.” Rya said, sitting back down. She heard something from behind her and turned.

The heroes had arrived.

Nikolas swung open the door and sauntered in. He kept a hand on his satchel as he scanned the room for his guide, trying to ignore the glances patrons were shooting his way.

Niko had never met the woman who was guiding him and the other heroes (he still grinned at the word - heroes) through the Forest, but he located her quickly.

He approached her and leaned against the bar.

"I'll take whatever beer you've got."

The barkeep nodded and set the glass bottle in front of him.

"So," Niko turned to Rya with a smirk. "You're the one in charge."

When the request arrived, Romi was in the shop.

Liv and her had been sorting through the new objects that had come in. Rew was supposed to be helping them identify them, but she had known he was going to be a lost cause the moment he asked to help. He had been getting distracted by every new little thing. One would have thought that an immortal, seemingly ageless all-powerful sorcerer wouldn't be surprised by anything magical, but Rew had always been an exception to that.

Romi wasn't even the one who had originally gotten the letter. Rew had been the closest to the door when it arrived, and he had been so excited at the thought of Romi getting a request that he had opened it and started reading it. By the time she had finally gotten it away from him, he was gushing about how she absolutely had to go.

And while she would have liked to come to that conclusion herself, Rew knew her well. It had been awhile since she had gone a quest like this, and something about the mysterious forest drew her in.

It had taken a little bit of work to get to the meeting place. But after several teleportation spells gone wrong - which had never been Rew's specialty - she finally found herself walking into the bar. If it wasn't for the fact that she had never been there before, the patrons wouldn't have even batted an eye at her arrival. She didn't fling the door open, but she also didn't slip inside. She just casually walked in like it was a place she had been to several times before.

She wasn't exactly sure what to look for at first. She never was. But after scanning the interior, she found two people who had to be part of the quest: a woman who must have just threatened the bartender from how he was looking at her, and a man leaning up against the bar.

She walked over to the two of them.

"Hello," she said, giving the two of them a smile. "I apologize for taking so long to get here. My transportation was a little untrustworthy."

Althea was arranging her pack in the carriage when her fiance dropped her off at the bar. Connick kissed her on the cheek.

"All this stuff?" he asked. He held up four different bandanas.

"It's always good to be prepared," Althea replied, and she took the bandanas and dropped them into the pack. "Who knows how long we'll be in the forest?" She tied the pack tightly closed.

Connick hummed in agreement. "Did you forget anything?"

"No."

His eyes trailed down. "Did you forget yourself?"

Althea frowned. "Of course not! Don't be stupid. This is far too important." She jumped down, and she and Connick strode to the door. Althea spotted three people by the table.

"That must be them," she said. "If I come back with two limbs, what will you think of me?" she asked him.

"You will still be the beautiful girl I will marry," Connick said. She gave him a quick kiss and walked to the table.

"Hey everyone, I must be the last one here," she said, smiling. "One shot please," she told the barkeep. He gave her the glass and stared at her.

"Um, miss, why do you have two different shoes on?" he asked.

"Wha-?" Althea looked down and gasped. "Shoot!"

Rya looked at the so-called "adventurers" and surpressed a chuckle. The fate of Rawn rests in their hands? We’re doomed.
She stood. "Welcome, you three. My name is Rya Silva, your guide. While in the forest, you listen to me, and me only. Doing otherwise will get you killed, courtesy of the Forest. Understood?"
The three of them nodded in asent.
Rya nodded back. "Now, what are your names?" she asked as she walked out the door.

Romi followed after her, giving a nod as Rya listed her instructions.

"My name is Romi," she offered. She glanced back at the other adventurers; she couldn't help but wonder what had led them to this moment. She also couldn't help but wish she had let Rew tag along. If Rya wasn't sure what their names were, she doubted that she would have cared if Romi brought someone with her. Liv would have also been nice to bring along, but Rew had been hounding her the moment she got the letter.

Silently cursing, Althea traded her mismatched shoes for new boots by the door as her fellow adventurers and guide situated themselves. Luckily, a merchant happened to have been staying in the bar, so Althea gave him a note to pass to her parents, so one of them could grab the other shoes.

She joined the others as Rya finished her instruction, and she nodded in assent. Althea reached over her shoulder and patted the hilt of her sword. Thankfully, she hadn't forgotten that.

One of the adventurers introduced herself as Romi, and Althea smiled at her in greeting.

"My name is Althea."

Niko took one last swig from his drink and followed the others outside. He trailed just behind the group, picking at his worn leather satchel.

As they walked, he made a note not to poke too much fun when talking with Rya. The last thing he wanted was to get on her bad side.

Niko's ears perked up at the sound of chatter. His new companions had introduced themselves as Romi and Althea. He caught up to them and smiled.

"I'm Nikolas, but call me Niko."

The Forest
The Spindle Man

The brightness of day did not reach the part of the woods in which Grier Knockwood resided. The trees drew together like heavy curtains to shield the Patron, creating a dappled gloom over the hollowed-out hillock in which he made his home. In other words, the perfect habitat.
The hillock was overgrown with moss and weeds, which hid the ill-fitting door to Knockwood's little hovel. He rather liked the way the grubs and insects living in the plants crawled into his kitchen for warmth. They were good protein, after all.
Not nearly as good as his current meal, though. Tonight, Grier Knockwood dined on a particularly rare delicacy from the far east. He had traveled long and far to collect a few of them, and the trip back was strenuous beyond reason. In the long run, though, it was well worth it.
The Spindle Man's long black tongue flicked over his needled teeth, lapping up the bits of flesh and blood that clung to them. He picked morosely at the remains of the meal for a moment, wishing it had lasted a bit longer. He was quite fortunate he had managed to fit three in his bag; another trip now would be too much for him.
After a moment, Grier rose to his feet and gathered up the remains, trotting toward the door to dump them in the usual spot. No sense in cluttering up his house with old bones. Only witches lacked the self-respect to do something like that, and Grier wasn't a witch in any sense of the word.
No, he was something much older and much, much more dangerous.

As Grier dropped the bones off in his little compost area, a scent caught his attention. Narrowing his eyes, he wiped his hands on a patch of moss and crouched down, pressing himself flat against the ground until he blended almost perfectly. Something--or someone--was trespassing on his property.

Ashen Wisp closely watched the humans. She knew they were planning to come into the forest, and she liked to be prepared. A rush of adrenaline shot through her. She was sure one of them had seen her. Rushing away, her hand strayed to a falling leaf. Quickly stamping out the fire, she ran on. Tears forced its way out of her eyes, but she brushed them away. Now was not the time for weakness. Once she finally stopped, she realized where she was. Spindleman's territory. Heat slowly traveled over her body, readying for a fight she was sure would come. Fists clenched and unclenched.

Breath. Just breath

Tiptoeing on the carpet of leaves, hoping to get out without being spotted. But it was too late. She felt a cold wave come over her, an unpleasant sensation. She spun around. Grier had seen her.

Grier narrowed his eyes as he edged closer to the intruder. One of the fire nymphs from another part of the forest had wandered into his territory. Foolish thing.
He reached a tree and slid up into its branches with practiced ease, studying her. It didn't seem like she intended to be here, though nymphs could be tricky with expressions. So was Grier, really.
That left two choices: attack or chat. Grier had eaten his fill today and was feeling somewhat sluggish with all that meat turning over in his stomach, and he had no intention of getting charred to a crisp at the moment. The second choice certainly seemed more appealing.
"Somebody looks lost!" he called down, making up his mind. "Anything an old beast like me could do to help ye?" Digging his claws into the bark, he swung down so he was braced against the trunk, ready for anything but just out of reach. "Can't imagine why anybody would come 'round here."

Ashen was immediately relieved.
"Um, yeah. You could say I'm lost."
She sidled over to a nearby tree and leaned into it.
"Even if you could help me, I highly doubt you would."
With that she waited for his reaction. Just to be safe, she slowly reached for her knives. Heat waves pushed over her, begging her to burn. But she fought it, wanting to be the second one to attack.

"For a price, perhaps." Grier showed his teeth in a terrible grin. "What were you running from, little nymph?" He let himself slide a bit further down the trunk.

She blinked quickly. Backing two steps away she nervously chuckled.
Should I tell him? I don't want this to end in a fight, but I know Grier isn't exactly trustworthy.
As she carefully weighed her decisions, she knew she was wasting time. She sighed,
"Humans are entering our Forest. Not like the ones before. They're stronger. And they are out to find what is supposedly capturing the villagers from Rawn."
As she said this, she grabbed her daggers. Now was the moment when Grier decided to believe her or not.