Young Writers Society

Sara was halfway down the stairs when she ran into Gaius. "Are you alright?" she demanded. "Your head--"
"I'm fine," he assured her. He must have a bruise already. "You? The children?"
"They're scared but they're alright," she replied, embracing him tightly. "Was that--"
"Maybe. Probably. But hopefully it hasn't properly started." He pressed his forehead to hers. "I'm going to send eight scouts and see how far this went and when it started."

Ky hadn’t given it long and when he didn’t ask her to stay, she turned and sprinted the rest of the way up the stairs. She was winded by the time she got to Tadaaki’s door and knocked loudly.

“It’s open!” His muffled voice called.

Ky threw the door open.

She stopped in the doorway, taking in the sight. Tasia was crying, laying on the rug on the floor. Aashi was to her left with her arm and shoulder over her daughter to protect her. Tadaaki was to their right with his arm and shoulder over both of them — and also holding up the mattress that covered them all.

“Are you okay?” Ky asked, locking eyes with Tadaaki before she glanced down at Tasia.

“She’s just scared,” Tadaaki assured her. “We’re fine. Are you? Is it over?”

“Fine.” Ky glanced around. “I don’t know. I’ve never…”

Her anxiety was palatable at this point. Tadaaki’s gaze softened as he looked at her. She’d never been in an earthquake before, had she? He supposed that made sense. The three he’d been in before was when he was with Aleth, before Ky was with them. Aashi and Tasia had never been through one, either. But they had the benefit of Tadaaki’s protection and guidance. Ky seemed so tightly wound that she’d snap in half if pushed even a little.

“Hey. It’s okay.” Tadaaki squirmed out, setting the mattress down gently on top of Aashi. She was scared enough she was silent, for once. Tadaaki walked over to Ky, planting a hand on either shoulder. “It’s okay. This happens sometimes. We’re safe. Are you?”

Ky nodded.

“Good. What about everyone else?”

“G-Gaius is going to check on his family.”

“What about the others?” Tadaaki prompted. “Has anyone checked on Lyra? Pratik? Any of the others?”

“I… I don’t know. Should I?”

Tadaaki inclined his head. “Yes.”

“Yes.” She nodded once and turned to leave.

But he didn’t let her go. Instead he caught her eye. “There is very, very rarely secondary shocks after earthquakes. It means things might start shaking again. If they do then get low and take cover under something if you can.”

She looked at him, anguished.

“You’ll be okay,” he repeated. “You can stay here if you want—“

She shook her head. “No. I should go.”

He agreed. But for her own benefit. It was probably fine at this point — and she needed a task to stay calm. Needed someone to give her clear, achievable instructions. Checking on the others would do just that. “Be safe and be smart.”

She nodded and turned and he let her go this time. She hurried for Lyra’s door and knocked.

(Oh oops I must have missed that! I thought she dashed off)

Lyra pulled the door open immediately, eyes wide. "What was that?!" she demanded. "An earthquake?"

(All good! She started to then felt guilty and stopped to see if he needed help but I feel like he would have just growled at her anyway xD)

“Yeah, I think so.” Ky looked her over. “Are you okay?”

"I'm fine, I was on the bed." She let out a breath. "Gods....that was frightening. Is it over?"

“We think so, but we don’t know. Tadaaki says sometimes there are secondary shakes. He said to stay low and under something… he had his family under their mattress.”

"What is everyone else doing? Should we go outside in case the fortress falls? Will it fall?"

“Uh… uh…” Ky didn’t like being back to the question answerer. “I don’t think so. Uh… Tadaaki seems to have done this before and he uhh he’s just staying in his room under the mattress. If he thought we should go out he’d be taking his family. I… I think it’s good to just stay put.”

"Okay." She nodded, shuddering. "I've never felt that before....that was terrible."

“Me either.” Ky agreed with a nod. “This whole… everything… it’s just… I don’t like it at all.”

Her brow furrowed. "Meaning what, exactly?"

She’d said the wrong thing. “Oh…um…uh…” Why had she said that? That was ungrateful. “Just… like… everything.”

"Like being here?" She frowned. "I heard something happened in the library yesterday and you got in trouble. Did they punish you badly?"

“What?” Ky looked at her, alarmed, suddenly distraught enough by that topic to be distracted from the earthquake. “No! That—“ her brain got stuck and she shook her head, as if that would dislodge it. “No!”

"Oh, good. I was a bit worried Uncle Gaius might ban you from the library forever. That'd be a living nightmare." She wrinkled her nose. "But what do you mean by everything?"