Young Writers Society

Adina Blackthorn has spent the better part of three years in the secret safety of the Underground Mage's Guild practicing her magical abilities and feeling part of a community for the first time since the Outlands. On a simple but heartfelt task to find her best friend's favorite fruit, Adina gets lost and runs into yet another conflict, this time being animals and not human beings. Who else would save her than the one and only James? Nothing like seeing an old friend again!

Today was Chelim's birthday, and all Adina wanted to do was to find his favorite flower. Part of the reason was she wanted to travel a bit outside the Mage Guild, and another reason was he had been her first friend here, and she wanted to do something special.

The only known location was a forest outside any main villages in the area, but that didn't worry her too much since she had grown quite a lot over the past few years. Believing in her own abilities took a little time and a lot of effort, and Adina stood taller now because of it.

Chelim yawned into a hand then sneezed, shaking his dark hair in the process. Adina snorted, laughing openly at his wide-eyed expression. They were of similar ages, although she felt a bit more mature thanks to her previous adventures.

"So, flowers!" She exclaimed, clapping her palms together.

A grin crossed Chelim's face. "Yes, flowers." He stretched his arms wide, easily reaching a foot above her head, like the tall oaf he was.

He simply repeated her statement, which didn't help at all. Ugh, he did this all the time! "Yes, flowers," Adina said, trying not to let annoyance seep into her words, "all for you, and only appearing here." Well, maybe she let her feelings out for a second.

"Aye," he replied, "because we're such good friends, you and I!" Chelim wrapped one of his long arms around her shoulders, throwing her off balance.

Tall people. Adina rolled her eyes even with a slight smile. "It'll take far too long to find them if we go together."

Not to mention that the clear sky above them threatened to form gray clouds.

He paused, thinking for a second. "Oh, you're right. Darn." Chelim waved a hand. "Figured we'd hang out some more."

"We do see each other every day at the Guild." She shook off his embrace, tired of stumbling around with his heavy weight dangling on her. "I think we can manage a few hours separated."

"Fine, fine," he grumbled, poking his tongue out between his teeth at her. "Is this where you meant to split up?" He asked, pointing to the clearing in front of them.

Adina shrugged, but then figured it was better than nothing. "Sure, why not. Meet back here in say, before sundown?"

Chelim nodded. "Good luck then, girlie."

"I bid you good luck as well, boyo." Adina added a slight bow, maintaining a composed look before laughing.

He shouted something back at her, but she didn't hear. Now, she was free to search for Chelim's favorite flower, on a rather silly adventure, but one the Guild let them have for a little fun.



A few minutes into her walk, Adina was soon shivering, and glanced at the significantly darker clouds above her. Maybe she should pick up her pace, hm?

The townsperson had said to look for a bright red bushel marked with white dots, but all she saw was green. Lots and lots of green plants and trees and leaves, but it was starting to get old.

She skipped over a few rocks on the path, nearly tripping herself. Something she couldn't quite grasp was to lose her clumsiness. And her active befriending towards all animals regardless of size or species.

Adina hummed aloud, her eyes sweeping the forest floor every few seconds.

Speaking of animals to play with, she blinked at the sight of a small fawn grazing in front of her. She tried to stop herself from cooing at the cute creature, but a sound escaped her mouth and startled it.

The baby deer jumped a bit, and in its haste to move, one of its hooves caught in a hole and its whole body toppled over.

Did Adina just kill this poor animal? She was such a horrible person! Running over to the deer, she fell onto her knees, hovering her hands like she could heal them. Of all the times she forgot that she could actually rely on her magic, here she went.

The fawn made a high-pitched sound, which stressed her further, but she did her best in wrapping up its wounded hind leg. Maybe that will be good enough for now. Adina sighed, sitting back on her heels, unsure of what to do.

She already had no idea where the flower was, let alone what to do for this poor creature.

Just as Adina was ready to stand up, she heard a second noise, much louder, deeper and scarier.

She turned her head to see a rather large, dark-colored bear standing a few feet away from her. Oh gods, there was a baby bear cub right off the side of the path.

Adina screamed.

James looked up.

Elliot bristled as the sound of a distant scream echoed through the forest and pierced the air, carrying over the sounds of chirping bugs and shuffling trees. The sky was dark and a storm was incoming, and James had been hurrying back to his makeshift shelter of rocks, vines, and trees.

The forest out here lacked some of the towering boulders more familiar to the Outlands. Now, he was somewhere in the middle. In between the lands of lawless men and civilization.

He hadn’t expected anyone to be out here.

But the scream had come so shrill and so sudden that his gut twisted and nagged at him. It wasn’t an animal. It wasn’t a bird. That sounded like a person... and if they were this far out into the wilderness the only hope of help in the distance was probably him.

He turned Elliot around and sent him into the direction of the scream. Mud and grass from the undergrowth of the forest flew up behind them as he gradually sped up, going faster and faster. Elliot’s golden coat was starting to glisten faintly in the dim light of the forest through the overcast sky.

Grey, brown, and several shades of green became the blurry picture of colors passing by them as Elliot ran and James held on tight.

He heard what sounded like a bear’s roar - though not as deep and bellowing as an adult bear. Another yelp of a scream followed after.

Finally, he caught sight of the culprit up ahead. What looked like a baby bear was standing, looking at a girl on the forest floor. James slowed Elliot down gradually and made a small loop around the scene before drawing close with caution and slow steps, riding up behind the girl.

The closer he got, the clearer the picture became. The girl had curly light brown hair pulled back atop her head, and was beside an injured fawn.

When he caught a glimpse of her face it clicked.

Adina.

A bittersweet, but genuine joy he hadn’t expected or prepared for swelled in his chest as he came to a stop a few feet behind her, still very aware of the baby bear and its mother that could be nearby.

“Adina,” he said softly. He didn’t want to give the bear a reason to cry out for its mother. “Get to your feet. Slowly.”

Adina Blackthorn

Adina did not expect to see someone she knew in the middle of the forest.

She should have guessed with her luck that she would both get something good and bad out of any situation, especially after trying to help a fawn and then come face to face with a bear. An actual bear.

Her eyes blinked once, then twice, before she seemed to recognize the voice that cut through the tense growls. Adina turned her head to see James sitting on Elliot close to her, looking not unlike how he did those years ago when they said farewell for the last time.

She obeyed his words, rising from her crouch in long, drawn-out seconds, trying to slow her breathing and not sound as panicked as she felt. What could she do now? Anything seemed that it would startle one of the animals by her, and that was exactly not what she wanted to happen.

Adina took a hesitant step towards James, her feet as light as she could afford. She took a second one, this time peeking at the young bear, unable to stop herself from shivering. More steps passed in similar fashion, until she was an arm's length away from him.

"Hi," she whispered, taking a breath before she stroked Elliot's head slowly. "I'd appreciate a ride."

James was tense as Adina inched towards him. He watched as the baby bear approached with small, hesitant steps. It didn't draw too close, but he was still wary. It looked ready to run in any direction - be it toward the injured fawn, towards him and Adina, or out into the trees. Obviously, he was hoping for the latter.

He hoped Adina wouldn't risk her life for a little fawn. It was sad, sure - but he much preferred she make it out of this without being mauled by a bear than see a young deer escape.

He held out a hand for Adina to take.

"Get on."

It was then that the baby bear darted for the little fawn.

Adina muffled her whimper, closing her eyes at the scene in front of her. She reached out to James's outstretched hand, assuming he meant for her to swing onto Elliot.

She took one glance behind her to acknowledge how close the adult bear had gotten to her and their offspring, shuddering with the possible consequences.

Adina sighed, trying to hold her tears back as crying wouldn't do anyone good right now.

"Thanks, cowboy." She said once she felt more settled. Adina tried to grin, but figured the smile fell short.

The mother bear showed up. That was their cue to go. He helped pull Adina up into the saddle behind him. Elliot was getting nervous, and he could tell by the way his ears were starting to press down, scared, and ready to bolt. Thankfully, getting away from the bear was what he intended to do in the first place.

Gently, he turned Elliot to the side, before heading away slowly.

They didn't get very far before he heard the sound of the mother bear's roar. He glanced back, to see the bear looking right at them. Elliot didn't wait for James's instruction, and he sped off into the forest. The bear's roar echoed out through the trees one last time, but in a matter of minutes, they left the bear, its child, and the fawn far behind them.

He could feel Adina's arms wrapping tightly around his waist as Elliot galloped through the trees. James gradually pulled back on the reins, clicking and humming in an effort to calm Elliot down. A few minutes passed as the gallop slowed, and finally, they came to a stop.

The clouds were darkening overhead, and they could hear the sound of distant thunder.

James sighed as he patted Elliot's neck and then turned to look back at Adina on the back of the saddle.

"Are you alright?"

Adina nodded at first, trying to smile before getting startled by the changing weather. She didn't want to think about what was happening behind them, but there wasn't much to distract her besides James, really.

"I'm ok, I think." She smiled then, irony curving her lips. "Sorry you had to rescue me, again."

If her arms tightened more around James for a second longer, Adina hoped it escaped his notice, but then she let go a slight bit. She didn't want to choke her rescuer, of course.

It took her a minute to recognize, or more so classify James's clothes, as being a lot closer to an actual cowboy than before. Complete with a hat and all.

"Don't think I don't notice your cowboy garb, mister."

Even with the clouds threatening to start dripping rain, she could breathe easier knowing that she wasn't alone, and that she wasn't going to be attacked by a very large, very strong bear.

A thought slipped into her mind.

"What are you even doing out here?"

Adina at least had her reason, which was a bit silly, but it was a reason. She surely didn't expect to see anyone coming to save her, not someone from her past for sure.

He grinned, just a little at the cowboy comment. It made him miss everyone, but Rosaleen especially. It was strange how that worked. The person he liked the least at first, somehow he missed the most. But, he was happy to see Adina. Happy to see that she was alive, and okay - at least, now that he'd taken her away from the mother bear.

He swung one leg over the saddle and hopped off, jumping down beside Adina. He offered another hand to help her down. Elliot needed to cool down, and they were in the clear for the moment.

"Well, I'm heading out to the deserts, but I had to take a little detour," he explained. With her, he didn't have to conceal the truth. She already knew he was a wanted man, and she was a wanted mage. He could speak plainly with her.

"I needed to lose someone tailing me. What about you? Are you out here by yourself?"

“Ahh, that’s a bit of a funny story,” she answered, laughing. “It’s Chelim’s birthday, my friend, and I —“ Adina could feel herself blush, “wanted to get his favorite flower?”

It seemed a bit silly now, to get herself in possibly serious trouble in hopes to find something small, but she had wanted to do something nice for a friend.

“I found the Mage Guild,” she added, in a softer tone generated from years of worrying and hiding. He’s from there too.”

Adina frowned then, trying to place where she was now compared to the clearing that they had split up at. She still hasn’t found the flower with all the craziness, so she hopes Chelim did manage to go the right direction.

“We split up just a few minutes into the start of the forest, but I’ve got no clue where that is now.”

She wiped a drop of sweat off her forehead, glancing up at the sky to catch ever-darker gray clouds. They would probably need to find shelter soon.

James gave Elliot a pat on the side as Adina offered her explanation. He looked over at her with his eyebrows slightly raised. He was relieved to hear that she'd made friends, and immensely more so that she found other mages in a safe place, but he didn't think she was aware that he hadn't known it was a guild. He didn't know if that was information he should know. He decided to not mention anything of it, in hopes that it wouldn't come to cause trouble later.

If she was way out here... did that mean that the guild was nearby? He would've thought he'd have run into it sooner...

He followed Adina's gaze, looking up at the dark clouds hovering over them.

"Well, you might want to wait out the rain before we find where you started." He paused, looking back down to Adina.

"Do you think your friend is alright?"

Adina Blackthorn

Adina grinned, thinking about Chelim. Of all people from the Guild, she had known him the longest and the most. He had a charm like none other to make anyone want to be friends with him.

"I'm sure he's fine." She waved a hand. "He's rather good at endearing strangers to him."

"A lot more than I am, probably." Her nose crinkled. There were a few too many instances she found Chelim trying to break away from the new-found friends that wanted him to stay "just a few minutes longer."

Adina sighed, thinking about the rain storm that clearly seemed to be starting.

"Now, where could shelter be found?" She turned to James. "Did you so happen to see a cabin or something in your miraculous ride through?"

James laughed dryly, looking out into the forest. "There are no cabins for miles. I made a shelter a little ways away. If we hurry we should be able to escape the worst of the rain."

He patted Elliot's side again and grabbed the reins.

"If we walk quickly, we should be fine."

A loud roll of thunder roared through the sky. James blinked.

"Okay. Nevermind. Let's ride, then. I don't think Elliot wants to get wet either."

Adina jumped at the rumble, walking back over to Elliot, accepting a hand to spring her back onto the saddle.

"Not getting drowned by water sounds good."

She grinned, despite James probably not being able to see it. Adina had missed him, missed his scruffy exterior and the way he entertained all her random thoughts.

"Can you tell me who was tailing you, or is it one of your secrets?"

James, back atop Elliot's saddle, didn't turn around to answer Adina's question as he turned Elliot around in the forest, hurrying through the trees at a brisk pace.

"I'm not sure I recognize this one," he admitted. "But I assume any stranger tailing me wants trouble. It's a safe assumption. People who want to meet with you on amicable terms don't hide in the shadows and spring upon you when you least expect it."