Young Writers Society

When you come to, you find yourself in a forest.

Even if the forest looks like the kind of forest you would normally see, the reason for you being there is still a mysterious. You don't remember walking into this forest. You don't even remember being near this forest.

There's a hum to the air, and a vibration to the ground. The vibration is inconsistent and subtle, but it's there as much as the pull you can't quite describe. You can push both to the back of your mind, but your thoughts always return to them.

You're not the only one in this forest, either. There are others like you.

At the very least, it looks like you won't be handling this mystery alone.

1. Please include a description of your character in your first post - you can throw it into a spoiler using the code down below and put it at the top of your post.

Code: Select all

[spoiler]Put your description here![/spoiler]

If you don't include the description in your first post, make sure to mention it over in the OOC thread!

2. Feel free to pick characters from whatever you want. They can be from another roleplay, a storybook, a novel or even a fanfiction of yours. The world, time and plot they're from ultimately just impacts how they interact with this roleplay, so it's really up to you.

3. You can have as many characters as you want, but there'll come a point where you can no longer add new ones because it'll get too overwhelming. I'll make sure to say something when that happens, so don't worry about it for now.

4. Please don't write for anyone else's characters. It's hard to predict what someone else might have their characters do, and it takes away some of the fun for the other writers.

5. You're free to have your character guess what the plot is, but don't make any plot-altering decisions with talking about with me first. You can PM me or chat in our OOC thread if you have an idea - I love scheming! c:

(It would also be really helpful if you said you were joining over in that thread, rather than in a post here. )

6. Don't post multiple times in a row, and make sure everyone has a chance to get a response in. There's going to be times where it makes more sense to post back-and-forth between two people, but try avoiding it unless you absolutely have to - it prevents the other writers from getting too behind and feeling like they aren't involved with the story.

7. Have fun!

People didn't just end up in unfamiliar forests.

If they did, it was because they had been drugged and brought there. If not, it was some kind of dream. Edward hadn't been drugged; he knew he wasn't dreaming. A slightly more superstitious person might have suggested the ghosts of the woods beyond his town had beckoned him there when he went to his room to get changed for the night, but Edward wasn't superstitious.

And this weren't even the woods by his town.

Which didn't make any sort of sense.

Edward groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. His mom was going to be worried sick when he didn't come back down to say good night to her. His heart skipped a beat. What if whoever had brought him had hurt his mom? He didn't remember anyone coming into the house, but maybe-

He tried to push that thought away.

The woods were strange and unfamiliar compared to the comforts of the city, but they would have been even worse without the move a few years ago. He could navigate his way through this place.

He had to.

Ivar and Ronin would be waiting for her.
Hester stumbled over yet another root, gritting her teeth as pain shot through her ankle. She had been on her way to the Madre's hut again for more goblin ears when the forest around her had changed. The trees, so close and uninviting before, filled with the giggles of redcaps and all manner of nasty little beings, had spread suddenly and brightened.
The feeling had changed as well. There was something pulling at the back of Hester's mind, some nagging want that would not leave. She had done her best to ignore it so far, but the feeling remained.
Hester took another step, squinting up at the sky to see the position of the sun. Wherever this was, it wasn't the forest she had stepped into. Was this some faerie's trick? Had she offended Madre Tove in some way? If so, how could she make amends or escape?
From what Hester could see of the sun, Ivar would be coming home from the shop soon. She wasn't there to prepare dinner for him and she'd left a note saying where she was going, so he wouldn't come looking for her until it got dark. He'd probably head over to her mother's house, since that was where she had left Ronin. That was taken care of, then. She just prayed that Ivar didn't worry too hard. He was liable to do things like that.

Usually, she smelled freshly baked cookies whenever she came home from school. Forests, however, smelled nothing like cookies.

Annabeth opened her eyes and met the branches of tall trees above her. Annabeth groaned and sat up, smoothing dirt and pebbles out of her hair.

"Where am I?' she muttered. The forest didn't look familiar at all, but why was she lying unconscious there? How did she get there?

Annabeth slowly got up and looked around. She was alone in an unfamiliar spot in an unfamiliar forest.

She cupped her hands around her mouth. She had nothing left to lose.

"Hello?" she called out softly. "Is anyone there?"

Vee walked back home from their regular shift at the animal shelter, feet skipping over the cracks in the sidewalk. They whistled a tune under their breath, a mixture of Korean and English from their latest playlist in their head.

A breeze swooped by, tickling their neck. Vee closed their eyes at the sensation, opening the up when the quiet sound of the street cut off.

They stopped. Instead of concrete, there was grass. But, they knew they weren't that close to the forest, so why were they able to reach here, already?

Maybe they could explore for a bit before heading home. What could it hurt? Their roommate would be out for a little while still, right? Vee could explore this mysterious place.

There was a girl talking from nearby.

Edward made his way around a tree to see a girl who looked off. He had never seen clothes like hers before, and had certainly never seen a girl wear clothing like that. That wasn't to say he was against the idea of women wearing different kinds of clothes. His mom loved wearing his dad's old pants around the house when they were the only ones home. But it was still a shock to see someone who looked like her, and for a moment all that Edward could do was just stare and gape.

And then he realized how rude he was being.

He closed his mouth and tried to stop staring.

"Hi," he said, his New York City accent strong.

Voices up ahead. Hester drew her attention away from the sky, narrowing her eyes. They spoke her language, from what she could tell, and they didn't sound fae. She approached quietly, staying behind trees. If they were humans, perhaps they could point her out of here and towards home.
It wasn't long before she reached where the voices were coming from. She'd been right; they weren't fae. Two humans dressed in the strangest clothes she had ever seen were standing face to face in the middle of the woods. The man had clothes vaguely similar to the outfit Hester had seen in drawings of brownies, without the ruffles and long coat tails. The girl...Hester couldn't put a word to how this person looked. It was a strange pair, that much was sure. Witches, perhaps? Madre Tove didn't dress this way, though. How puzzling.
Hester came to a stop behind one of the trees, resolving to listen and gauge the conversation before asking for help. This was an unfamiliar place, after all.

Annabeth gasped softly and turned around, seeing a man who looked like he was in his late teens.

He stared at her, mouth gaping as if he couldn't believe what she was wearing. However, weird and uncomfortable it was, she couldn't exactly blame him. He wore old-fashioned clothes, like something from the 20th century. Still, though, she glared at him.

As if realizing how rude this looked, he closed his mouth.

"Hi," he said in a New York accent.

Annabeth blinked. "Uh, hi. It's nice to meet you. Hey, you're from New York, aren't you?"
She grinned. "I'm from New York too, although I moved to Maine a couple of years ago."

Annabeth stuck her hand out. "My name's Annabeth! What's yours?"

"I'm Edward," he managed to get out. He reached out a hand and gave hers a hesitant shake. Part of him was trying to see if she really was real. Another part of him was shocked that she was also from New York. She didn't look like any other New Yorker he had seen before, but he could hear the accent in her voice.

His hand returned to his side.

"I also moved out of New York," he admitted. "I live in Connecticut now. It's been a few years since the move, but the accent decided to stick around."

He glanced around.

Then he looked back at her.

"...Do you know where we are right now?" he asked. "I know this sounds stupid, but I think I've been kidnapped. I don't know how I ended up here."

Vee tripped on a root for the third time that hour, according to their watch, which seemed to be ticking at a slower rate than normal, but then again it was twenty years old so it was allowed a few misperfections.

They were glad of one thing in this strange series of steps, that they weren't alone. Or, at least, they didn't seem to be alone, not with a little are up ahead that seemed to contain a couple of people walking around.

Still, though, even as they picked up their pace to talk to someone and to hear a human voice back, this forest carried a strange air to it. Vee was glad to be of the mindset to want to explore though, for if they hadn't starte to move, would they have been left behind without anyone noticing.

Their knees threatened to buckle by the time they reached two people speaking. Vee sighed at their low stamina. Instead of spending time playing, they often spent the time inside, only needing short bursts of speed rather than long-distance running. They might come to regret that later.

"Hello," they said, actually stumbling onto the grass. "I'm so sorry to barge in, but I definitely hope someone knows what's going on."

"I'm Vee," they finished with a nod.

Someone else had joined them.

If Edward hadn't already been feeling out-of-place in the forest, he certainly was now. He hadn't ever heard of a name like Vee before. He also couldn't help but notice how Vee's clothes matched the style of Annabeth's clothes.

He glanced down at his own clothes.

They had looked fine that morning, but he was all too aware of how much he stuck out now. He shifted uncomfortably. This was reminding him of something he couldn't quite put his finger on. A dream, maybe.

He shook the thought away.

Focus, Edward, he thought. He needed to get away from this place and back home. He couldn't let himself think about half-forgotten dreams.

"I'm Edward," he offered. "Edward Smith. I'm just as confused as you are."

These people didn't seem to know where they were, either. Hester frowned. She stepped out from behind the tree, approaching the group slowly.
"Hello," she said slowly, keeping one hand on the small dagger sheathed at her hip. "You all seem to be lost, too. None of you have any idea where we are?"

Edward almost jumped when a third person emerged from the woods.

Where had she been hiding? Why had she been hiding? Her clothes looked just as off as everyone else's. The uneasy feeling that had already settled in Edward's gut was starting to get even stronger. It felt like it was tugging him away from this conversation, off to-

Edward blinked.

Wait, that wasn't right. He was definitely feeling anxious about this whole thing, but there was another feeling that was there, too. It was lurking underneath that feeling. It reminded him of when he had gone fishing with some of his classmates last summer. He kept getting tiny little fish on the line trying to pull the bait away. Even though the fish were never small enough to jerk him into the water, he could feel the tug.

"I don't know where we are," Edward admitted - not for the first time, and probably not for the last. "But I...I know this sounds weird, but I feel like I'm being pulled towards something. I just can't tell where-"

The ground suddenly shook underneath his feet.

He had no way of feeling it, but the ground shook underneath everyone else's feet, too.