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A Voyage Among the Stars



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Tue Jul 14, 2020 1:58 am
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KateHardy says...



A Voyage Among the Stars


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The MWSC Domnarmane was on a routine trip to their neighbouring galaxy, Andromeda, when it ran into a crew of pirates. The pirates tore through the ship as if it was their new treasure chest. Ironically, while the ship was being taken, five teenagers, who had been playing around with one of the emergency escape pods, managed to evade them. Before completely losing them, the pirates fired after them mercilessly -- thrashing the escape pod's only navigation system. They then gave up further pursuit, knowing full well what was in store for them without it. In their rush to get away, with the navigation system disabled, the teenagers ended up entering the galaxy's Bermuda Triangle -- The Herolocemane Zone. And it would only get worse from there. The ship groused through the bawling of a red light. They were out of fuel.

They had to make a crash landing. Unscathed, yet smothered with smoke and debris, they were engulfed by the maze. Now they must find a way out...

The Maze (Brief Summary)

The maze was a relic from a war long past and encomapassed an entire solar system. It had been abandoned for centuries and had fallen into disrepair. It was built to confuse invaders and hold them captive. As such, most of the traps inside were not designed to kill but rather to incapacitate. However, due to neglect it had become a home to several creatures that roam the area. They were unidentified mutants that lurked on uninhabited places. Outliers who were ostracised by their own planets because of their unexplainable physique. They usually kept to themselves.

However, upon learning that a gang of humans had entered their new home, they won't whimper on the corners any longer.

Cast

1. Aria Youngly - @FlamingPhoenix
2. Asher Petrov - @Shadeflame
3. Phoebe Asimov - @kattee
4. Cassandra Kane - @HarryHardy
5. Raspian - @Gravitem
Last edited by KateHardy on Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:13 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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KateHardy says...



Prologue

Narrator

The MWSC Donmarmane purred along silently among the stars. It was a one thousand kilometre long behemoth, the flagship of Earth's space cruisers. It contained nearly a thousand emergency escape pods in three classes. #1 to #500 were 50 passenger pods for the second class passengers. The other 500 each carried only 3 and were meant for the first class passengers.

Cassandra Kane stood in front of the door of Pod #727, trying to decide whether it would be wise to go in. She was just about to turn away when a boy walked up to her. She instantly recognized the brown hair of Asher Petrov.

"Morning, Glasses," he began," planning on breaking in?" Cassandra flushed.

"Noooo," she said a little too loudly," I was studying the...uh...locking mechanism...you know the new carbon fiber - titanium alloy they made."

"Really? Sure about that."

"Uhmm..yeah..."

"You know I was about to suggest that we go in," he said.

Cassandra got a thoughtful look on her face and decided to take another look at the lock.

"That's not a great idea," came a voice from the back. It was Phoebe Asimov. Asher whirled around to face her.

"And who are you to judge us, Gulliver? he asked. Meanwhile, Cassandra focused on the locking mechanism.

"Just using some common sense. What if you accidentally press the release button? You'll be left in outer space without anyone knowing! You'll be stuck there until you're out of oxygen. Who'll help you by then? " she shot back.

"I think you're confusing common sense with paranoia," Asher said before adding in a whisper,"Can't believe a psycho's in the ship."

"What did you just --"

"Whoa guys, calm down here, no need to fight."

Everyone except Cassandra turned towards the source. It was Aria Youngly.

"And what do you want Katniss?" asked Asher. They began arguing about the pros and cons of boarding the pod.

Meanwhile, Cassandra continued to pull at the latch securing the door of the pod shut until it unlocked with a loud 'CLICK'. Everyone turned to her. Before they could say anything she opened the door and slipped in. Asher ran in after her, despite the protests of Phoebe and Aria. The two girls exchanged a look and slipped in after them, leaving the door open.

"Look at this steering system. It has the new pitch controls built into it. And the windows! They're made of microfibers, even ten consecutive shots can't get through this. The news outlets' description about this spaceship is reductive," She knocked on the glass and no sound came. "Its hybridized with..." Cassandra was unable to stop herself from rambling on in the presence of so much new technology. The pods on the Donmarmane were the latest models that the company had come up with and there were several upgrades in this one.

"We get it Encyclopedia Cassandra...this is cool, now let's see what kind of things we can make it do," said Asher interrupting her verbal diarrhea.

"NOO!!" chorused Phoebe and Aria.

"Are you out of your mind?" demanded Phoebe," Do you have any idea how much trouble we'll be in?"

"And...do I look like I care?" shot back Asher.

"What are you snots doing in here?"

Everyone turned towards the door that Phoebe and Aria had forgotten to close. It was Raspian. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

"Very..." began Raspian but he went silent as a massive 'TZZZ' rang out somewhere on ship.

"W-what was that!?" asked Phoebe, eyes wide.

"That sounds like a Series Four ALR," answered Cassandra immediately.

"English, please?" asked Phoebe.

"Automatic Laser Rifle," scorned Raspian, "Pipsqueaks like you wouldn't --" it dawned on him, "Why am I hearing one?"

"That doesn't sound good." Phoebe said, fiddling with her hands.

"Why would they be firing one of those..." mumbled Asher as he cracked open the door to take a peek.

"Where did they even get a laser rifle on board a cruise ship?" asked Phoebe.

"They have those on board each pod," replied Cassandra.

"Ohh...so it's probably not pirates," asked Phoebe calming down slightly.

"Yaa I don't think so," said Aria," there aren't many pirates in this area of space."

"Hold that thought," said Asher," I think I see pirates."

Phoebe bit her lip, trying not to scream. She ran to a corner and cocooned herself, mumbling incoherent words.

"We should probably take off," said Raspian," that's the only way we get out of this. I've read about these attacks."

"But..." began Phoebe," our parents..."

"Guys the pirates are headed this way," called out Asher. He quickly shut the door and pressed the locking mechanism. The latch clicked shut.

"We're leaving. NOW!!" ordered Raspian.

Cassandra started poking around the ship's control panel.

"No guardians, no idea what's going on, and riding this doom pod with Asher. This is it. I knew my death was coming," said Phoebe now shaking violently as Asher rolled his eyes. "I should've written a will or, at least, something for my tombstone. Ugh contingencies."

Cassandra finally located the throttle and slammed it into full power and the two engines roared to life.She pressed the eject button and there was a sudden jerking motion as the pod was launched off the ship.

"I'll fly," stated Asher reaching for the controls.

"No, I should be the one," argued Raspian.

"I've gone to flight school," shot back Asher.

"So have I. I know how to lead the fleet."

Suddenly there was a loud hissing sound and the entire pod shook.

"What was THAT?" screamed Phoebe.

"I think we took a hit," said Cassandra.

Raspian and Asher both stopped arguing as Cassandra scanned the many gauges trying to figure out what happened.

"I'm flying," declared Raspian as he yanked the controls.
"W-woah," Cassandra tried to spread her legs to maintain balance whilst Raspian held the controls as if they were playstations from the 21st Century. They were tilting to the right, then to the left like a pendulum.

"I think I'm going to puke--" Before Phoebe could finish the sentence, the ship did a 360. They even bumped into a rock that cracked the screen.

"RASPIAN!" Asher screamed.

"Shut it!" Raspian held the controls tightly. Unfortunately, as if it was in a video game, he was the kind of person who would end up on the sidewalk.

Asher pushed Raspian with all his might and held on to the controls. Only a few minutes later, the ship was stable.

"I'm. Flying." said Asher. No one argued this time.

The little ship hurtled through space. Cassandra straightened herself up and frantically looked for anything that had been damaged. Phoebe was huddled in a corner leaning against Aria, whilst Raspian dropped himself into the seat, elbows on his knees. He dumped his face on his palm and "tsk-ed."

They held on as Asher took the ship through several turns dodging volley after volley of lasers that were being fired at it.

After two or three grueling minutes, they all breathed a small sigh of relief once the constant sound of the lasers hissing past the ship stopped. The pirates had apparently decided to cease fire.

"I think I know what got hit," said Cassandra, five minutes later," the navigation system is completely fried.

Phoebe was too shocked by that point and screamed. "Oh, will you zip your mouth!" Raspian complained. "Your yapping is going to ruin everybody's ears."

Phoebe whimpered at the scold and clung to Aria tighter.

"There might be a way to restart it," said Cassandra.

"Fixing it is highly unlikely." said Raspian as Cassandra looked at him. "If you don't believe me then go fetch the manual or something. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy this marmalade." He grabbed a bottle from his pocket, plastered it with a smirk as if it was a trophy, and gulped down the drink.

"I'll look for it," said Aria, gently letting go of Phoebe, who curled up into a ball.

Asher continued to hold onto the controls, knuckles turning white from keeping the ship flying steady. It was taking every bit of training he had ever done to keep them going. Cassadra was typing away on the ship's control panel trying to get it to do something. Aria was rummaging the shelves where supplies were stored, trying to look for any sort of instruction booklet.

A few minutes later, Cassandra somehow managed to get the ships's cruise control online and Asher let go of the wheel with a sigh of relief.

"I'll see if there's anything in that toolkit that could help with the navigation. You make sure we don't start to go off course," said Asher. Cassandra nodded.

"Psh." Raspian commented. "Thank you so much for saving the day, my hero" Asher rolled his eyes.

"What's your problem?" Asher clenched his fist, starting to get annoyed at the man.

Raspian forcefully stood up from his chair. His steps thudded through the steel platform as he approached Asher. He stopped when they were only a foot apart and pointed a finger at Asher's head, "Don't you dare get cocky just because you flew the ship. I was just under the weather, thas' all."

Asher shooed the hand away, "Listen toddler, I have no time for your tantrums. We almost lost our lives and this is your problem? Go back to your mom."

"Whose problem? I'm just reminding that fat brain of yours--"

"This fat brain helped us get out of there. Need I remind you who bumped into an asteroid?" Asher rolled his eyes at Raspian.
Raspian was about to pull up a punch when Cassandra yelled, "This is no time to fight!"

Raspian looked at her, "As if I'd listen to you. Your 'big' brains sure fixed the navigation system."

"I--I," Cassandra didn't know what to say.

"HEY" Asher pulled Raspian by the collar of his shirt. "You have no right to talk to anyone like that! Why don't you fix it? You've got some experience, right?"

Raspian's face reddened, "Well I will. After I ruin that horrible face of --"

Everyone looked at the source of the scream. It was no other than Aria, "Will everyone please stop!? We have to save our breaths for what lies ahead because the main ship might have been hijacked. We don't know what will happen and we only have ourselves! Can't we all just get along?"

She released a heavy breath and returned back in looking for the manual, whilst Raspian went to his seat and Asher and Cassandra checked the control panel. In the corner, Phoebe was starting to calm down as things started to settle down.

The next hour or so passed with relative peace. Cassandra was on the pilot's seat and she continued to glance at the control panel every minute or so to make sure they weren't drifting off. Aria hadn't managed to locate anything and sat back besides Phoebe -- the two were drawing comfort from each other as they processed all that had happened so far. Asher started inspecting the room and Raspian was drinking his marmalade.

Suddenly, a planet loomed out of the perpetual emptiness that had so far surrounded them. It was unlike anything they had ever seen before. A massive structure made of what resembled stone was sticking out of it. It was covered in some kind of green moss. It had a giant opening that was completely pitch black inside and they couldn't see anything inside.

"What on Earth is that?" asked Cassandra pointing.

Everyone turned away from what they were doing.

"A dark pit leading to who knows where," stated Asher.

"No need to state the obvious," said Raspian, who earned a scowl from Asher.

"Whatever it is, it looks like something that we should be staying far away from," said Phoebe as she got up to take a look. Aria followed suit.

"I am not going in there, thank you very much," said Phoebe," our chances of survival are low enough as it is."

"Then don't." Raspian remarked, "I'll be happy to do you a favour and push you out."

Phoebe bit her lip, when Aria held her hand. Aria shook her head and reassured Phoebe, "Don't worry, Phoebe, this thing must have some sort of signalling equipment, and we're near a fairly busy spaceway. Some ship will come along and we'll be picked up."

"That is true, I hear that this has the X-11 Morse code transmitter pack stashed in her along with the..." began Cassandra. She was cut off by a loud alarm.

"What's that?" asked Phoebe, the calmness she'd cultivated over the past hour vanishing in an instant.

"Fuel Low Warning," remembered Cassandra.

"We are definitely going to die," declared Phoebe.

"We have to land," ordered Raspian, "allow me."

"No. Let me," said Asher, jumping to grab the controls.

"Excuse you?" began Raspian before Aria cut him off.

"Asher got us this far...let him land. Please."

"Yes, Captain, you hear Katniss over there. Sit down and hold onto something," agreed Asher," Encyclopedia, can you tell me how far we're from that structure."

"We are no..." began Phoebe.

"You see a better place, let me know," said Asher before Phoebe could complete her protest.

"It's about 16km from what the radar is telling me...that is if whatever the radar is detecting is actually that thing," stated Cassandra.

"This is going to be rough but I think we can make it," said Asher," you definitely want to hold onto something."

He put on the seat belt that was on the pilot's seat. Cassandra and Raspian did the same on the other seats while Aria and Phoebe grabbed onto whatever surface they could find.

The ship shuddered as Asher attempted to guide it to the mouth of the giant structure. The ship descended slowly, the engines starting to slow down as the fuel levels dipped dangerously close to zero.

Phoebe was trying desperately not to scream while Aria was doing her best to comfort her. The ship made it's way down inching forward, the engines almost ready to give up.

Slowly but surely, the ship managed to drift almost to the opening before the engines gave out. Luckily, Asher had aimed well enough. The ship, captured by the gravity of whatever planet the structure was on, plummeted down inside.

It was a very bumpy ride down. The ship hit the walls of the structure repeatedly. They clung on as tightly as they could and waited for it to end.

"Asher, keep the controls straight," ordered Raspian.

"Doing that genius," he shot back.

"And try to get the br.."

"It's called a thrust reverser," interrupted Cassandra.

"Not helping," said Asher as he held on tight.

After ten grueling minutes of falling the chute they were falling down opened up.

"Extend the landing gear!" shouted Raspian.

"No need to state the obvious," Asher shot back, repeating the Black-haired brawny's words.

"The landing gear is dropped from..." began Cassandra.

"...this button," finished Asher pressing the very button in question," I know that one."

Then without warning, the ship slammed onto rough stone. The landing gear held for a second. After teetering dangerously, the gear gave up and the ship toppled over.

Asher went face first on to the console. Aria and Phoebe both were flung against the door. Cassandra and Raspian managed to stay in their seats. As the five of them tried to catch their breath after the crash, a blood curling growl pierced the air...


Spoiler! :
Written with the help of @kattee, @Shadeflame and @FlamingPhoenix
Last edited by KateHardy on Thu Jul 23, 2020 4:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mon Jul 20, 2020 6:39 pm
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mythh says...



Raspian


"Asher got us this far! Asher got us this far!" Mocked Raspian while still strapped to his seat, brows narrowing to turn his face into a clear frown, irritated by the fact that he could've done a better job keeping the ship intact but his accepting crewmates didn't let him. "Man, this is real bullsh*t." He said as he opened his eyes and got up. He extended his hand to help Asher up, who was also on the floor. He helped Asher back onto his feet.

Raspian walked towards the status report panel. He looked at the status feed and studied it for a while. "Guess we need some supplies..." He muttered to himself. "We're out of fuel. There's definitely no getting out of here," he reminded himself and thought.

"Well, we're so screwed. Dude, I need some chill. I gotta see if that bottle of marmalade is unscathed." He walked a little and turned back around. "Right. We're in a damn pod." He said in an annoyed tone. "Asher got us this far," he mocked again. Rasp looked at the status feed again. "It says location unknown!" He exclaimed, "like is this for real?" He questioned, now even more annoyed.

"What's that Cass? Supplies? Why don't you check by yourself? I'm being deprived of my marmalade..." And with that, Raspian went and stood next to Asher without making eye contact.
Last edited by mythh on Tue Aug 11, 2020 12:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Shadeflame says...



Asher


Asher groaned and patted his head tentatively. The landing had been rougher than he would have liked, to say the least. Why couldn't they have just stayed in the air? So much less bumpy, and the view was definitely better. He reached out to touch the controls, feeling the smooth metal underneath his fingertips-
What was he doing? His head felt all fuzzy, like warm cotton wool had been stuffed into every nook and cranny. Concussion, he grimly concluded. He'd gotten multiple ones before, playing rocket-ball, but this one was the worst yet. Hadn't he heard somewhere you could die from too many? God, he hoped he wouldn't die. Not yet, anyways. He wasn't finished with the world. They weren't getting rid of him that easily.

Raspian was mumbling something about marmalade, and Asher grew more and more annoyed with him. "Shut up!" he growled, letting go of the control panel. He only stumbled once on the way over to the opposite wall, which he counted as a minor victory. "Glasses, what's the deal with the supplies?"

Cassandra stood up from her seat. "I wasn't the one looking through the supplies. Why don't you go ask them?" She motioned to Aria and Phoebe, who were sitting on the ground.
Asher made his way over to them, his head pounding. "Is she okay?"

"I'm not sure?" Aria said, her eyes wide. "Do you think she's fainted?"

Asher shook his head, and then immediately regretted the sudden movement. "I think she might just be in shock."

Phoebe started mumbling something under her breath.

Asher leaned closer "What is she saying?"

Aria tilted her head towards Phoebe's. "I think she's reciting first aid facts."

Cassandra chimed in. "Fun fact, the first aid kit was invented by Robert Wood Johnson, who struck up a conversation with the Denver & Rio Grande Railway’s chief surgeon. The doctor told Johnson about the dangers of working on the railway and the lack of prope-

"Great, just great." Asher interrupted. "I'm marooned on a planet God knows where, and stuck with Captain Obvious, a human encyclopedia, a demented safety freak, and a freakish girl with a bow. How did they even let you bring it on the boat anyways?"

Aria opened her mouth to answer, but Asher cut her off. "No, no, no, you don't need to answer that. It was a rhetorical question," he moaned.

Raspian interrupted his rant. "I'm going to check the supplies, since none of you people seem to care about our survival. You do realize the ship could technically blow at any second."

Cass frowned. "That's probably unlikely. The ship is out of fuel.

"Which is the reason we can't get off this hell hole!" Raspian glared at her. "Go do something useful, instead of interrupting me."

Cassandra glared at him, and stomped over to check the control panel. Her fingers flew furiously across the panels, and her face slowly smoothed back into its usual calm.

Aria was still holding Phoebe, who had begun to calm down, and Asher straightened up. "Who died and left you in charge?" he challenged Raspian. "Who says you get to order us around?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, Asher," Raspian spat with venom. "But I'm the only surviving crew member, and you're just a civilian." He pointed to his badge. "I think we all know that I outrank you."

"Only surviving crew member?" Aria' eyes watered. "But what about my family?"

"Look, we don't know anything," Raspian continued, in a gentler tone of voice. "They might still be alive. It's just, normally when pirates attack, they don't leave the crew alive. Liabilities and all that. Your parents weren't crew though, so you should be fine."

Asher pressed his lips together. He wasn't going to say anything, but in school, when they had learned about the rare pirate attacks, the crew weren't the only people who were killed. Unless you were a rich, influential person who they could ransom, your life meant nothing to them.

Cassandra had obviously come to the same realization, because she snuck a questioning glance at Raspian who shook his head slightly.

"Oh my god, oh my god." Pheobe got up from the ground, clutching her arms to her chest tightly. "Where's the first aid kit? Has everyone checked themselves for injury? We need to deal with any wounds now, before they get infected and develop gangrene. I heard that most people who have it have to have their limbs amputated and we can't amputate it here. We don't even have anesthetic and oh my god we're all gonna die." She scrambled over the the storage compartment, pushing Raspian out of the way. "I saw a first aid kit in here somewhere," she continued. "It should have been our first priority, what were you guys thinking?" Phoebe let out a sigh of relief as she found it, hugging it to her chest and then opening it, and sorting through the supplies.

"Greaat" Asher rolled his eyes. "Paranoid here finally found her voice. So much for the peace and quiet."

The ship gave a loud groan as the metal shivered and settled deeper into the ground. Everyone grew silent for a few seconds, and then Raspian spoke. "Help me with the sup[lies here, or we're all gonna die."

Aria began to cry quietly. "I don't want to die. I'm only seventeen."

"Yes, and the dancing queen. No one CARES." Asher yelled.

The ship gave another ominous creak.

If looks could kill, Asher would have dropped dead from the combined glares of Raspian, Aria, Cassandra, and Phoebe. Pheobe almost looked ready to strangle him with her bare hands.

"Shut. Up." Raspian hissed.

Asher quickly pasted on an uncaring smirk, but everyone had seen his terrified expression just moments before. "Why should I?" he said quietly, but went to work sorting through the supplies.

"Guys, the ship says the air outside is breathable and the temperature is not ideal, but we'll live." Cassandra informed the group.

"Finally, a stroke of luck." Aria breathed.

"Guys, there's food and some of those high tech water bottles in here." Asher announced.

"Really?" Cassandra asked, her face lighting up. She hurried over and knelt beside Asher. "Oh my god, these are great! I heard that you can almost never run out of water with them, they suck moisture from the air and convert it into water." She ran her hands over one, pulling it out of its compartment. "So cool."

"Ever so sorry to interrupt your little geek fest here." Asher said, snatching it out of her hands. "But there will be time to ogle your precious little bottles later, we're getting ready to leave."

"What the hell?" Everyone turned to stare as Raspian pulled out a circular disk. It was shiny and metallic, and about the size of Aria's head. Asher furrowed his eyes. Was that...

"A rhoomba?" Cassandra asked in disbelief. "Why on Earth would they put a rhoomba in the ship?"

"Yes, because when you have to escape from your cruise ship you really need a vacuum to clean the floor." Asher said. "What kind of stupid idiot included that?"

"I guess we could take its batteries," Cassandra suggested. "Although i wouldn't know what we would use it for."

Aria rushed forwards and grabbed it out of Raspian's hands. "No! You're not killing little Vroomy here." She wrapped herself around it. "This little guy has feelings too."

Raspian let out a deep sigh, like he didn't even know what kind of mess he was looking at. "Let's just pack up the supplies."
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FlamingPhoenix says...



Aria


Aria rubbed her head after putting Voomy down, the flight was a lot rougher than she had thought, and the tension between Asher and Raspian was really starting to distract everyone form the real problem. Looking over at Phoebe she realized that maybe everyone should be checked over first.

Walking over to Phoebe she gently took the supplies from her. "I think before we do anything we should make sure no one is badly hurt." She spread the things out in front of her.

"Great." Asher mumbled crossing his arms.

After Aria took the medical supplies from Phoebe she had curled herself into a small ball and was rocking back and forth mumbling something about them dying and never getting back.

"At this rate I don't think Phoebe is able to go anywhere, she's in shock and unable to function." Aria pointed out touching the girl's forehead. "And I can't tell when she'll come out of it."

Asher glared at Aria then at Phoebe. "Then someone will have to carry her, maybe Marmalade Man over here.?" he sent a sly look in the other boy's direction.

"Hell no!" He snapped back folding his arms, "Things are hard as it is, she's just going to have to come around." Leaning down he poked her forehead only to have his hand swatted away by Aria.

"Well one of you boys have to carry her. We aren't leaving her here." Aria jecked over Phoebe from head to toe. "She seems fine other than a small bumb on her head." She said more to herself than anyone else.

Standing up she checked everyone over much to their dislike. There wasn't anything mager to worry about only a few bumps and broses. She had wrapped up Cassandra's hand once she had spoted a small cut on her palm. It was fine and something that would normaly be pushed aside, but they were in a strance place with unknown diseases that could infect a small injury like that.

Cassandra had protested that she was fine and it was small, but Aria wasn't going to take the chance.

"Can we get out of here?" Raspian complained. "I don't want to be in here with him any longer than I have too." He sent a scowl in Asher's direction.

Letting out a low sigh, Aria kept on a straight face. "Not yet, Cass mind helping me get the supplies out."

"Sure." Cassandra walked over the the cupboard and began to take things out. For a small space it sure had a few things that could be helpful.

Aria looked over the two backpacks Cass had handed to her, with out a second thought she put the medical items inside one. She also grabbed all the food Cass had got out and put it in with the medical supplise. Zipping up the backpack she peared over Casses shoulder to see her drag out a few weapons.

Looking them over she saw two guns and two Machetes. "Well these could be helpful." She cocked her head to the side.

Cassandra let out a small squick. "Are those Solar Powered Laser Guns?" She grabbed one and began to look it over. "Oh these are the best! They can function for like ten hours with only30minutes in direct sunlight. The photovoltaic cells in these are off the charts. They have an energy conversion efficiency..."

Asher rolled his eyes as her rant tapered out. He picked up the other gun, his eyes looking it over. "Its okay I guess."

"Well I guess Raspian can have the Machetes then." Aria said handing them over to the boy who took them without any hesitation.

"Are we dead?" Came a small voice from behind them as Phoebe began to come around.

"If we were dead why would we..." Raspian started but was quickly interrupted.

"Raspian!" Cassandra snapped, her little outburst had everyone turn and look at her. "Umm, not now." She mumbled.

Aria looked towards Phoebe. "No we're okay for the moment." She looked from Raspian and Asher. 'Any longer with them being together in this pod and we might die after all.' she thought helping Phoebe up.

"There isn't any point in us staying here any longer, lets get out of here." Asher said walking over to the pods door.

Not being able to argue with him Aria let go of Phoebe and swung the backpack over her shoulders with Voomy safly tucked up in the second one that she handed over to Phoebe. Once the two of them were ready they waited for Asher to open the pod with Cassandra still going on about how cool the gun was.

"We're all going to die." Phoebe mumbed, leaning against Aria.

Walking up to the pods door Raspian rolled his eyes and shoved Asher out of the way. "Move aside." He said as he opened the door.
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kattee says...



Phoebe


Leaving the escape pod, Phoebe thought of various ways to prevent a painful death. They're going to die either way, she might as well find an easy and smooth route. She made sure that she would never be in contact with weapons or anything pointy. Stabs caused a lot of bleeding and the death would be frustratingly slow. She's just carrying the huge first aid kit and the roomba (without its batteries). When she placed the roomba inside the bag, the whole group eyed her.

"What?" Raspian snickered, Asher shook his head, and the girls looked at her with worry. She ignored all of their reactions, too tired to explain. She'd always been obsessed with circles. No sharp edges, no ends, no danger. She believed it's the perfect shape and the only thing that can ever be trusted.

Her thoughts immediately left her and she was a blank page. She was welcomed by a scenery that drew pages of poetic ways to slit her throat or hang her head like a lantern. My oh my, was I a witch in my past life?She remembered the tyrannical king, Nero. Will the aliens here slaughter them? She didn't need to go too far because the planet itself looked like it could invite a massacre. She covered her eyes for protection, whilst hearing a whistle from Raspian.

"Would you look at that," he said. He felt like they were in a movie set and he was the notorious Dwayne Johnson, ready for some action. Asher would've scoffed if he heard this middle school poetry. Everyone else had mixed reactions. Cassandra thought she found the lost city of Atlantis. Everything was just extraordinary in her eyes. One might even think that there were Xe signs in both her eyes. The pavement itself astounded her. The stones were moving back and forth. They were either scrubbing the floor or preparing a dance floor for a party. Both were believable for her.

Asher was unimpressed. He surveyed the area for any hazards and looked out for civilians. The best thing they could do was learn where they were and get some help as early as possible. This is a convoluted madhouse. But still not as bad as being with Captain Marmalade and Panicking Phobia.

"Is this where Disney films its movies?" Meanwhile, Aria thought the place was a fairytale. She never expected something this dreamy. There are four pathways before them, huge enough to fit four empire state buildings. Though, they couldn't see anything beyond that since it was outlined by tall walls of ruby hedges. She felt like she found a secret garden.

"How could you say that, Ari?" Phoebe disagreed. They were trapped in a palace of blood. The only possible reason why those hedges were red was because millions have died in there. The hedges were also surrounded by silver vines ready to macerate their limbs. An odd statue was above the innermost wall of the hedge. She stood rigid and pointed at the statue, "That thing's ready to devour me."

It looked somehow like a wolf with the body of a cheetah and tails of a scorpion. Raspian snorted at her comment and posed like he was in a boxing fight. "I can take that down, myself."

"Sure." Asher said. "The same way you almost took down the escape pod."

"Will you forget that already? Don't get to hang up on the past."

"Psh. Yea, right. The past, which was clearly just an hour ago."

"Will you both quit it?" Aria scolded. She's been hot headed lately, but the two girls knew how irritating Asher and Raspian had been.

What kind of aliens are in here? With the look of this place, Phoebe assumed that guests weren't welcomed here. What if they'll become a form of sacrifice for this place's cult? No. No. No. I don't want that! Phoebe ran back to the pod, but before she could reach the platform, all the rocks on the pavement started running towards the four pathways. She slipped and caught sight of a gigantic lilac foot crushing the escape pod.

The foot was very large yet thin and was webbed on its toes. Looking up, the skin was covered with scales, with spikes on its abdomen and wings like that of a peregrine. Unlike the rest of its body, it had grey face and green eyes. Its nose protruded and one would think that it was a raptor. It's twice the size of Kong, Phoebe thought.

Everyone was still.

But Hollywood had deceived them again because it released a thunderclap roar. Asher grabbed the machete from his backpack and grumbled,"Where's Chris Pratt when you need him?"
Last edited by kattee on Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:07 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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KateHardy says...



Cassandra


"Crisp Rats?" asked Cassandra, confused," why do you want a rat?"

"Rat?" asked Asher, totally thrown off by the direction that had taken," I was...you know what...we have more important matters like THAT THING OVER THERE!"

The massive creature, whose toes were probably taller than Cassandra was, turned towards them. The monster was an obnoxious shade of lilac, very scaly and sporting wings. And because that wasn't scary enough the it was covered in spikes across its abdomen and had a mouth full of razor sharp teeth, each one twice as tall as a human being. Uhh...why were monsters never mentioned in any book in the library? Somebody should have written a book about this.

"AHHHHHHH," came Phoebe's response. Asher had drawn his machete. Raspian was...Wait a second. Is that moron actually admiring his reflection in the machete?.Aria had drawn her bow and nocked an arrow. Her hands were shaking but she was pointing in the general direction of the monster.

Cassandra shakily shouldered her own weapon. The cold stock of the rifle made a shiver run down here spine. It's okay Cassandra. This is a really big gun and you know how to use it. That thing will not stand a chance.

The monster let loose a blood curling roar.

"Run!!" screamed Phoebe.

"You really think we can actually outrun it?" asked Asher," raptorface here has a slighly larger stride than us."

"We are going to have to try and hide," suggested Aria, "or.."

"We are all going to die!!!" screamed Phoebe.

"No, we just need to stay calm..." began Asher.

"You could just give me the gun," stated Raspian confidently," I will deal with this thing in five minutes."

"What are you going to do?" asked Asher," challenge it to a marmalade drinking contest?"

"Guys..." began Cassandra, the words dying in her throat as the ground rumbled under them. The thing had spotted them. Oh. My. God. What do we do?

"Hide!"

"Run!"

"Marmalade!"

"Fire!"

The last one was Asher, who holstered his machete, cocked his rifle and fired right at it's foot. The gun charged up and discharged with an almight "TZZ". The laser beam sped to its target, burning a hole clean through the foot of the creature. It let out a thunderous roar.

"I think you just made it worse," said Aria.

"No I did..." shot back Asher. The monster ran right for them.

"All I wanted was a painless death!" screamed Phoebe," is that too much to ask?"

"Yes you definitely don't deserve a painless death," commented Raspian, still not looking up from his machete.

"Try to find cover...anything," said Aria," it's huge so it might not see us."

"Just shoot it till it's dead," suggested Asher," that always works."

"No it most certainly does not," argued Phoebe. The monster took one step closer and they scattered. Phoebe was rooted to the spot, frozen with fear. Asher aimed his rifle. Cassandra muttered to herself.

"Automatic Laser Rifle model of 2016, shoots high powered laser beams, upto a terrawatt of power. Can burn through..."

Meanwhile, Raspian was staring at his reflection. The monster was now almost onto them. Aria grabbed the frozen Phoebe and ran, dragging her along. Raspian finally broke out of his stupor and ran away, overtaking the stumbling Aria and Phoebe. Asher looked the calmest. Cassandra was stil muttering random facts.

"Hey, glasses...I have an idea," he said," how good are you at aiming?"

"The iron sights on an ALR are 4 centimetres tall..."

"GET OVER HERE YOU TWO," screamed Aria," what are you doing?"

"We will die!" added Phoebe. Raspian also shouted something but he was so far away that Cassandra couldn't make it out.

"Encyclopedia Kane...I need some help," said Asher.

"Uhh...help a word in the English language. One syllable," said Cassandra. What do I do? Why aren't there books about this? Where is the library?

"SNAP OUT OF IT CASSANDRA!!!," shouted Asher.

That did the trick. Why can't I run away.

"Yes?" she asked, voice shaking slightly.

"Can you aim?" he asked.

"Uhh...I have read four books about it?" she offered.

"Good enough...when that thing comes by, I want you to try and slide between its legs and aim for the...uhh...family jewels."

"That's disgusting but it might work," said Cassandra. Her hands were still shaking but a determined look came over her. I am going to live to see another library.

Cassandra turned back. Raspian was almost out of sight. Phoebe was huddled against one of the vines, in shock. Aria looked torn between charging out to help and making sure Phoebe didn't faint.

The monster's foot struck the ground inches in front of Asher.

"Do it now!!" he shouted and started to shoot the monster's foot, causing it to roar. It turned its massive head towards Asher. Asher turned and ran backwards. He attempted an action movie style turnaround but overcorrected and ended up doing a ballet dance move. Taking out his shades, he put them on and stared at the monster, attempting to emulate an action movie star.

Meanwhile, Cassandra ran for the monster. Behind her, Aria had made her choice. She was running full tilt towards them screaming something that sounded like "Asher, do you realize the seriousness of this?" Cassandra couldn't tell. Her ears were pounding like someone was beating a drum right next to them. She ran under the monsters legs. Oh my god is that sulfur dioxide, methane, it stinks like...a fermentation gone very wrong.

She didn't dare look up. She didn't want to be scarred for life. She pointed her gun up. Just press the trigger. The circuit will complete and do the rest.. Taking a deep breath, Cassandra squeezed the trigger.

The gun discharged. She heard Asher whoop and Aria probably screaming at Asher or maybe her. There was no way to tell.

Above her the monster roared in agony. Cassandra ran. Asher, still posing, flashed a thumbs up. Aria ran towards her and engulfed her in a hug.

"I can't believe you just did that," she said, pulling her in tight.

Cassandra smiled into Aria's shoulder. She had never been hugged by anyone besides her parents and it felt good.

The monster let out a strangled cry behind them. It began to fall.

"Let's get out of here," ordered Aria, disentangling herself from Cassandra.

The three of them took off, Asher claiming how his idea was the only reason they were still alive.
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FlamingPhoenix says...



Chapter 2



Aria


Aria couldn't believe what Cassandra and Asher did, were they out of their minds!? Probably, but now wasn't the time. Her mind was still having a hard time getting around what had just happened, when the monster's painful howl of pain ran through the air and a dark long shadow began to fall upon them. Quickly looking up over Cassandra's shoulder, her eyes filled with fear at the sight before her. Slowly but surely there it was, a large hunk of a monster falling towards them. Whatever Cass had done surely worked.

Breaking free from the hug she had given Cassandra, Aria grabbed her hand in her iron grip and dragged her after her while yelling at the others. "RUN!"

She didn't know how fast she was going, all she knew is that they had to get out from under the monster. Ahead of them she saw Asher along with Raspian running towards Phoebe, who was still on the ground in fright.

"We have to get Phoebe!" Cassandra called out to her.

Aria only nodded, when out the corner of her eye she saw Asher only a little bit ahead, a grin on his face.

"If it wasn't for my great idea that thing would still be trying to eat us!" He chimed, seeming to be rather calm as he ran.

"Well, it's now going to make us pancakes if we don't get to shelter and fast!" Aria barked, not having the energy to put on a calm face.

Aria and the others soon reached where Phoebe was sitting. Her eyes open and wide with fear she refused to let out.

"What do we do with her?" Raspian asked, looking at the monster who was falling towards them worry on his face.

"You'll have to carry her, we can't get her out this state now. She's gone into deeper shock." Aria explained, helping Raspian with Phoebe while the other two got the backpacks.

Looking around in need of some shelter Aria saw a cave like structure, it didn't look big but would have to do. "Over there." She said pointing. "Let’s get her there."

Nodding their heads, everyone quickly moved in the direction of the cave. Once inside they gently placed Phoebe down who was mumbling and waving her arms around in a frantic state.

"Phoebe." Cassandra said quietly, her face full of concern. "Will she be okay?" She looked towards Aria who was kneeling in front of the girl.

Aria nodded. "Yeah but I need to smack her to get her out of it. And I'm not sure if I want to do it." She sat back on her feet, letting out a small sigh as a fine strand of hair fell out of its small braid.

"I'll do it!" Asher piped up, a little too eager. "She's always annoyed me." Raspian hit Asher’s shoulder, making the boy look towards him with a glare. “What?”

Aria sent a glare in his direction along with Raspian. "I don't know you two right now." She turned away lifting a hand and bring it down on Phoebe's face with a loud smack.

"OW!" Phoebe screamed. "What was that for?"

"Sorry!" Aria quickly apologized, feeling Phoebe for any wounds or bumps well other than her cheek. "You were in shock and I had to get you out of it some way."

Rubbing her cheek Phoebe slowly stood up, her hand resting against the stone wall for support. "How long was I out?" She asked.

"A while." Raspian said.

"You should be fine." Cassandra reassured her.

Suddenly a loud crash could be heard a little bit away as a loud rumble ran through the floor. Making everyone reach out and hold onto the stone walls. Everyone looked out and saw the monster down on the ground not moving.

Everyone stood there for a while as they tried to get their footing again.

"Everyone okay?" Cassandra asked looking around.

"Yeah we're okay." Raspian said helping Phoebe to her feet.

“We’re surely are going to die!” Phoebe yelled, her eyes as large as dinner plates. "Why couldn't you guys have listen to me?" She sighed then began to ramble. "Why did we have to crash here of all places!? Why not a world made of soft pink and round blunt shapes!"

Aria only laughed at her friends rambling. It was true though why did they have to end up here?

A loud hmph came from Asher as he rolled his eyes, but Aria just shook her head as she looked over Cassandra. "You're also fine. Now, you two--" She turned to face Asher and Raspian but didn't reach out to check them over, only crossed her arms in a disapproving glare. "We need to have a small talk."
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KateHardy says...



Narrator


The look on Aria's face was pure murder as she glared at the boys, her arms folded over her chest as she looked from Raspian to Asher. "What where you thinking Asher? You could have gotten us killed! And you!" She turned to face Raspian. "Running away like a school girl! What are you five!" Letting out a low sigh, she calmed herself. "Look, we are in a very strange world and you two are the only boys here, so you need to step up to the plate and be men otherwise I will...and you don't want that."

Cassandra watched as Aria went to town on the two boys. She curled herself into a corner next to Phoebe as both Asher and Raspian squirmed under Aria's glare.

Asher looked taken aback for a few seconds, but then collected himself and stepped forward, his face twisted in anger. "I could have gotten us killed? I SAVED us. We would have died if it hadn't had been for MY plan, and I didn't see you doing anything about that dinosaur back there. And now you're trying to chew me out?" He scoffed. "Typical. Next time I'll let you kill yourselves. Have fun dying, losers."

"I was trying to distract the monster," protested Raspian," give it something to focus on. Obviously it would go for the best looking target." He attempted a million dollar smile but it was ruined by the marmalade staining his teeth.

Aria grabbed Asher's arm in a firm grip, a look of outrage plasted on her face. "Look Asher, it worked...this time, but what about next time? Are you going to put Cass in danger again for your own safety?" Aria put the same twisted look he had on her own face. "Are you going to shoot the monster next time or are you going to use Cassandra again? Cause all I saw you do was bark out orders." Sighing, she said calmly. "What we should have done is run and hide. What would have happened if your plan didn't work, and we couldn't get Phoebe to safety in time?" Letting go of his arm she placed it on his shoulder. "Out here we can't be kids. We have to think like adults, not teens who think blowing up a monster is the best thing to do when in trouble." Aria turned her cold look on Raspian. "Really? You want to repeat that? Cause you're just digging yourself a bigger hole. Might as well keep going."

"It was the only thing to do." Asher spat. "We couldn't have outrun it, it was too big. Besides, I prefer to go down fighting, not fleeing like a scared rabbit. "

"Uh...now see here, the monster clearly was defeated, and obviously it was because it was distracted by me," said Raspian, oblivious to Aria's growing anger," if I hadn't distracted it you think that it would ever have stood still for that waif of a girl to shoot it?"

Aria gave him the are you kidding me look right now then turned her look on Asher. "Asher, if you want to use a rabbit as your best reference look at it this way, do you ever see a rabbit stand up to the wolf trying to eat it?"

Asher rolled his eyes. "That's why I shot the beast. I would prefer not to be a rabbit, like Raspian is."

Grabbing her hair in frustration Aria gritted her teeth, turning around and poked his chest. "Fine then, take charge and stop trying to pick a fight with Raspian every five seconds. And you!" She glared at Raspian. "Why don't you just come out and say you are a coward, we all know you were running away."

"Look I was..." began Raspian, jaw set in defiance.

"Hey you want a target....use the damn Roomba next time," piped up Cass, who immediately paled as the boys turned to her, and clutched Phoebe for support. The boys turned back to Aria, who was now going red in her anger.

"So because you said I'm the leader that means Marmalade here has to do what I say. He's the one who should be obeying me, and that means that every question and snide remark is his fault, and he should be punished for it." Asher retorted.

"Hey, I am not doing what you say. I am clearly much better than you are in everything. You should all be listening to me," Raspian shot back.

Aria shook her head. "As leader you need to take the questions, its part of leading. And what you did was VERY questionable and down right stupid." Turning to look at Raspian she said loud enough for him to hear. "And I'm not done with you Raspian." She turned back to face Asher. "And if you don't want to lead that's also fine."

Raspian just scowled at her, and twirled the machete still in his hands.

"I'm not taking anymore of this from a girl who resents me for saving her damn life! The only reason you're alive right now is because of me." Asher hissed. "I meant what I said before, little girl I'm leaving you to die next time." He stalked over to the edge of the cave and stared out into the distance dramatically.

"I DON'T RESENT YOU!" Aria shouted, her rage at the tipping point.

Asher whirled around. "Really, you could have fooled me," he scoffed. "I save yours, and everyone else's, butt and this is all the thanks I get."

Aria's hands turned into fists at her sides. "Fine then do that stunt again, but when you get hurt don't come crying to me to fix the damage, because I warned you of the outcome, and I will not watch yet another person that is close to me get hurt because of their own pride." She turned away from him.

Cassandra, still holding onto Phoebe and watching the spectacle unfold, got a worried look on her face as Aria looked close to tears. Phoebe was keeping quiet, not daring to interrupt the fight that had begun.

"Sweetheart, did I just hear you say you cared about me? I'm touched, I really am." Asher said, smirking.

"I get your point." Aria mumbled, her anger turning into hot tears at the brink of spilling. "Just trying to keep our lives. Call me when you haven't died." She picked up the two backpacks and hoisted them over her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll make a great leader when you're not full of yourself..." She turned to face him with a glare. "Oh wait that's right, you always are."

"And so what if am? What's the problem with knowing and acknowledging the truth, huh?" He took a step towards her.

"If that's how its going to be can you accept that you could have gotten us all killed by being crushed by a monster?" Aria shot back taking a step towards him, a look of defiance in her eyes.

"I wouldn't have gotten us killed, sweetheart, I knew exactly what I was doing. There was no chance that we could have outrun it, it was giant. I SAVED us, and you just can't seem to wrap your pretty little head around that fact."

"Are you really going to stand there and take all the credit!? All you did was tell Cass what to do! You never risked your on damn skin!" Cassandra nodded furiously at this.

"You did not just say that!" Asher looked furious. "I came up with the plan, I expertly instructed Cass on what to do, I shot the beast first and distracted it while she finished it off, and now you accuse me of doing nothing. What did you do, darling? Huddle in a little ball with Paranoid?"

"Hey, she was just trying to keep Phoebe safe unlike certain marmalade lovers," added Cass, gaining some confidence again.

"Hey...." began Raspian but a glare from Aria silenced him. The warning look in Aria's eyes seemed to terrify him even more than the monster had. It looked like Aria was getting ready to put an arrow through Asher.

Aria had to stop herself from smacking Asher. "Well sorry for not thinking it was all your doing! And you never said a single thank you to Cassandra, or did I not see because I WAS WORRYING MY PRETTY LITTLE HEAD!" Aria shook her head and began to walk away. "I'm leaving."

"Go ahead." Asher replied. "See if I care, Katniss."

"I don't really mind if you do or not." Aria shot back. "Because their is only space for one person in your cold cracked heart! And that's your own goddamn self!"

"As if I'd ever care about a silly girl that blames me for running away when all she did was hide...is that how you lost your father. Did you just run away and hide like the coward you know you are?" said Asher taking a step forward.

Aria stood there frozen in place when suddenly she turned around slowly, her eyes cold, her hands now in tight fists she ran for Asher, punching him in the nose. "How dare you say that!" Hot tears ran down her cheeks as she glared down at him.

"Hey, it's alright," said Cass, disentangling herself from Phoebe and running towards Aria. She threw her arms around the now shaking girl and pulled her in tight. The tears streaming down Aria's cheeks set Cass off.

"You take that back right now, you...urghh...I don't even know what to call you...how dare you?" Cass shook her little fist as she tightened her hold on the sobbing Aria.

"How about scum bag." Aria mumbled through her tears.

"Calling him a scum bag would be too kind," Cass replied, her face reddening fast. She stroked Aria's hair as she tried to calm her down.

"Oh...the drama que..." began Asher, before he was cut off by a thunderous rumble that echoed all around them.

Suddenly a massive tremor reverberated throughout the entire structure. The five of them exchanged identical looks of horror. The road shuddered and the moving rocks started to protrude much higher on the ground, as if they'd grown legs. The wall of hedges snaked towards different directions, while their thorns separated from them and twisted among the rocks. The four huge pathways started either merging or diverging -- It was a wobbling frenzy.

"RUN!!!" screamed Phoebe.

No one had to be told twice. They all turned and ran, but all the rocks started running in their direction, sweeping them along the current.


by @HarryHardy, @Shadeflame, @FlamingPhoenix and @kattee
Last edited by KateHardy on Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
Stay Safe
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kattee says...



Phoebe


Who would've thought that this planet would have its own broom -- no a rake. The rocks seemed eager to gnaw them with their whetted legs and push them off to the afterlife. Their rounded claws clung loosely on everyone's limbs. All Phoebe could do was close her eyes. Screaming was futile, running away was impossible, and imitating a corpse to stay alive was foolish. She knew they were headed to an execution hall. The death of the monster might've sent signals across the planet and now, they'll enact their revenge.

After the monstrous event, she realised two things. First, she didn't want to die.

Phoebe had been prepping herself with Death. She was sure that the moment they both met, she would shake its hands. But seeing Cassie egg the lilac on its bulldog, she stood frozen. Dying young was never an option for her. She had always been drawn to the idea but unlike Dickinson, it was of anxious interest. Moreover, her thoughts had always been colliding with her words and actions. She would think of painless death but would scream in fear of dying or solidify into a statue hoping that it was a believable camouflage.

The obsession of everything round was a clue. She arduously collected contraceptives to Death's womb. She tried all she could to derail its steps away from indulging the exhilaration of forging another tombstone.

And the next thing was that she was shamelessly useless.

Whilst Asher concocted a risky yet pragmatic plan and Cassie heroically risked her life for everyone, she became Aria's burden for being a corn on the verge of popping. Fear would hold her heart in a flatline and instead of a camouflage, she's a movie snack. She barely knew these people and they'll eventually get sick of her if she doesn't fix her panic attacks.

She also didn't know how long these rocks carried them with their spider silk as she caught herself lost in her own thoughts. They sure were taking their time. Huh. The obnoxious silver vines that reminded her of the lilac's scales started surrounding them. Were they alive? They're possibly snakes slowly wrapping themselves on Phoebe's bodies until she choked out her intestines. It's highly likely that these are cunning little creatures. No one should ever judge a planet by its small walking rocks.

When she felt the vines combing her hair, it wasn't edgy as she thought it would be. They were regular vines -- even softer. She was being hugged by a cotton ball wrapped around a very thin wood. It slowly sneaked its way around her arms and pulled her with force greater than love at first sight. It seemed that everyone was experiencing the same thing because she heard shrieks echoing as they entered through a tunnel. Phoebe felt herself being pulled away from the ground as darkness quickly fogged her view. Her eyes widened and the only action she could conclude from this was that they're going to hang her.

"I'M NOT A WITCH!" She screamed as loud as she could and wriggled out of it.

"What are you yapping on about?" She heard someone scream back. She realised how loud her voice must be because the volume amplified more than expected. Even a whisper can be counted as a scream. From the voice, she knew it was no other than Raspian.

"They're going to hang us!"

She heard someone click a tongue following with the words, "If you're still alive when all of this is done, I should introduce you to a doctor." If she wasn't so focused on unhooking herself, she'd roll her eyes at the ever sarcastic Ashbrain.

"No thank you. I need to stay away from you when we get back. I've been getting infected by that spoiled brain of yours already ugh." She hissed. "And why else would they pull us up?"

"Wait." A gentle voice. "You're not on the ground?"

"Ehm. Yea? Why? You're not?" She answered back, confused. "And is that you Aria?"

"Yea, it's me. And because--" There was a loud thud and an alarm rang. Phoebe would've covered her ears if she could. Lights started turning on from the far right corner causing a domino effect that lit up the whole place. Seeing everything in all of its glory, they were Jenga blocks pulled by a horrible player.

"We're a complete mess," Cassandra became everyone's mind translator. She was pushed back in the left side and was buried by thick vines that conveniently left her head free.

"Enjoying the beach, Cass?" Raspian laughed, which was replied by a glare from her and a sharp nudge from Aria. The two were in a much better position; Raspian was lying prone with only his legs tightly knotted, whilst Aria sat beside him with her hands cuffed.

"Seriously Marmalade maniac?" Asher scowled, hands tied to his back. "Do you have anything better to say? The important thing is these vines --"

"Know what they're doing." Phoebe finished his sentence and all eyes were on her. She was confused by their shock faces but then something clicked. It's the first time she'd talked calmly ever since the hijack. That. She shouldn't be right now since she was currently a makeshift chandelier. She had never been more relieved that the vines didn't let her go, she was more than ten feet above the ground. "Ehm. How do we get out of here?"

"Easy." Asher said. "You just need to stop panicking."

"Alright. Ok. I'm sorry about --" She heard a ripping sound and a shrieking. "-- that."

Asher was already standing with a prideful smirk. He showed the small pocket knife in his hand and bragged, "and use your brains." He went towards Aria first, then Raspian. He threw the blade near Rasp's hand saying, "You can do that yourself."

He grabbed an extra from his backpack and Aria did the same. They started crowding over Cassie who's going to be a huge work. She was a local sushi roll. Phoebe heard a grunt from Asher, "It's not working!"

"Why?" Cassie asked, putting an effort to see what's going on.

"The vines," said Aria, "they keep growing back."

"Did you serenade them, Cass? Such a clingy boyfriend," grumbled Asher. "Let's not forget we have to bring phobia back down the ground."

"I heard that!" Phoebe frowned.

"Good for you,"

"It's not budging, Asher." Aria knew they weren't getting anywhere. She frustratedly dumped the blade on the floor, ricocheting towards the shadows. She stood up at the awareness. "Uh. Guys..."

"What now?" Asher didn't bother looking and focused on pointlessly cutting down the vines.

"You should see it for yourself." Asher looked up and he too was dazed.

Raspian finally freed himself from the stemmy shackles and patted Aria in her shoulder. "You looked like you've seen a ghost." When his eyes trailed towards the cause he released a number of curses.

"Wh-what? What's happening?" Cassie, who should be grateful she was deprived of the view.

"Is this a gladiator ring!?" The blade disappeared on one of the arcs. There were three floors of those that queued up in a curve. Even with the lights on, they couldn't see what's inside any of those as if there's a lampshade of darkness. She imagined that monsters similar to the lilac were just waiting for the right time to pounce on them. Across those was a strangely straight-cut wall of hedges. The same bloody hedges, only this time they had flowers instead of vines. Phoebe knew they'd landed on a bear trap that bit them upon the small touch of their toes.

Another alarm reverberated and a strange scent came right after. She wanted to puke. It was worse than a spoiled caserole. It could've been a death rat for all she knows. "Ugh--" She couldn't even talk. The scent was so strong she felt like she'd eaten it.

"It's a stinking corpse lily. But. There's something mixed into it." Everyone looked at Cassandra who was free from the bush of vines. "The vines retread the moment the alarm blared," she answered all the questions evident on their faces but couldn't ask.

She continued, "The mask is in the first aid kit." Asher, Aria, and Raspian rushed over and snatched the masks. They heaved out heavy breaths, trying to test their potentially punctured lungs. At the same time, Phoebe felt the hold of the vines slowly relaxing. The main vine, that served as a tubing, suddenly started rocking her back and forth.

"That smell could even beat a pandemic." Raspian commented.

"Uh. Guys." Phoebe called them and all their eyes widened at the realisation. Their faces in sheer panic as Raspian and Asher looked at each other. Nodding their heads, they rushed off directly below Phoebe and opened their arms whilst following the movement of the swinging vine. The two girls mimicked the boys and were now anticipating the fall. Yet Phoebe knew that there's a low chance of successfully catching her. She was a lifesize pendulum after all.

No. She's not going to die. She had to do something.

She slipped her hand out of the loose vines and scoured the front pocket of her backpack. Grabbing the familiar round item, she attached to the adhesive part on the swinging vine. She clutched the hole with her two hands and when the vines finally let her go, she fell down slow enough for the quartet to catch her. They assisted her until she got proper footing.

"Are you alright?" asked Aria. Phoebe didn't reply. She was in shock with what she just did albeit not enough to lose consciousness. Aria shaked her out of the trance.

Phoebe looked at her, blinked a few times, and beamed. "I did it!" She jumped up and down whilst shaking Aria.

She then enacted a cool pose -- that came off as a parody of Michelangelo's David -- and said, "I'm the new James Bond."

"Featuring Duck the tape?" Asher snickered and used his thumb to point out to the six-foot-one glass of marmalade, "If you continue this, you're going to get along with Ras-pain in the ass here."

"Are you looking for another fight?" Raspian's clenched his fist and positioned himself for a punch. Meanwhile, Phoebe ignored him, not wanting to ruin her joy.

"Now. Now." Aria came in between the two before they started a brawl, "We still have to get out of his place. Who knows what's inside..."

The bear trap somehow understood them when light started flickering inside the arcs, besides the one in the middle. They heard a loud rumble of a quake.

"Let's go in there!" Asher pointed out on the middle arc and everybody followed without thinking.

All were cuddled up in the tunnel, barely away from the entrance. Only standing up when the noise ceased, Cassie began, "There's a 85% probability that taking this route would keep us alive."

"You're trying too hard.." Raspian patted her in the head, "We only need common sense for that." He began sauntering through the tunnel.

"Wait, Raspian. It's too dark," said Phoebe. She noticed that the tunnel was also radio silent. They had to put an effort to be heard. Their throats were already dry. Not to mention that the smell was gone. "Isn't everything too convenient? What if whoever, or whatever, wants us to take this path? This can be a trap."

"Here we go again with Paranoia." Raspian continued walking and Phoebe furrowed her eyebrow. She can't also deny how fast her heart rate was. She steadied her breath. Panicking is not an option anymore. She needed to be useful.

Biting her nails, something in her brain chimed. She pulled another circle from her backpack and everyone looked at her incredulously. "Where's the batteries, Cass?"

"Why?"

"Just give them to me. Please." Cassie reluctantly gave them over. Phoebe placed back the batteries in the roomba and turned it on. She pressed the circle in the middle and light starts
flickering, until it illuminates with a three feet circumference.

"Great going, Phob--Phoebe. You're not as incompetent as I thought you were." Aria jabbed Asher. Her eyes narrowed that compelled him to zip his mouth close.

"We've never thought you are, Phoebs." Phoebe forced a smile. She knew that Asher had the right to think that way and Aria was just being her usual kind self. But baby steps. She didn't freeze, she didn't panic, she didn't need babysitting. She was even able to save herself, well partially. They followed the roomba whilst Raspian remained ahead.

"If you step on a landmine, it's on you." Phoebe warned.

Raspian clicked his tongue and faced the others. It didn't stop him from walking and even gave all of them a prideful smirk. "Oh please. This place is saf--Ow!" He hit his head, releasing a loud 'clang.' "What was--Mamma mia..." Everyone halted, the sound of metal lingered in their ears.

Phoebe stuttered, "Here we go again."
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KateHardy says...



Cassandra


Rasp rubbed his head vigorously.

"What was that?" asked Aria.

"Some stupid object that dared to harm my beautiful brain," snapped Rasp.

"Oh please, if you had just stayed behind the dumb robot your marmalade infested brain would be fine," shot back Asher.

"I was being brave," said Raspian crossing his arms.

"LIke there's anything in there to get damaged," mumbled Cassandra under her breath. That stupid big head is only going to get bigger with that bump.

"What was that Cass?" asked Aria, who was next to her.

"Nothing," replied Cass quickly.

Aria winked at her and whispered," you weren't wrong."

"AHHHHH," screamed Raspian all of a sudden.

"What's turned you into Phobia all of a sudden?" asked Asher, walking up to Raspian. Raspian pointed at something in the dark that Cassandra couldn't see. Has he seen a ghost now?

"Who you calling Phobia?" demanded Phoebe also marching upto Raspian.

Asher jumped back in shock as he saw whatever Rasp was pointing at. Okay that does not look good. A scream from Phoebe added further credibility to that theory.

Cass and Aria exchanged a look. The two of them joined the other three, the little roomba following close behind. Cass stifled a gasp as the thing that had hit Rasp on the head came into view.

Cass was staringly into a beady and thankfully dead looking set of eight eyes. It was a damn spider and not the hand sized ones you find on Earth. The head of this thing alone was the size of a person. The thing that Rasp had hit was one of its giant curled up legs. I don't even want to imagine what would happen if that thing was still alive.

The legs of the the monster were at least 20ft long from what Cass could make out in the dark. Rasp and Asher had both gotten over their initial shock. Rasp was staring at the spider like it had done him a personal offence. Phoebe, poor girl, was trying her hardest to remain calm.

Cass could see that Phoebe was making a conscious effort not to panic. She must be feeling horrible about freezing during that fight earlier.

Aria took charge of the situation.

"That thing is clearly dead so like people with brains, let's just ignore it and move in," she suggested.

"But..but...what if there are more of them inside there?" asked Phoebe," it could be like a nest or something.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but Phobia hear might be right," agreed Asher.

"Only one way to found out," said Cass," we can't go back there. I'll take a spider over that smell any day."

"We have our guns. They should keep us safe," added Aria.

"Since when did we become monster hunters," said Phoebe.

"Since this idiot crashed us onto this planet with his horrible flying skills," replied Raspian.

"Shut up, Marmalade Brain, as if you could even keep us flying straight!" snapped Asher.

"BOYS!" shouted Aria," we've been through this before. Let's shut up and see what's on the other end of this tunnel."

"I'm staying behind all of you," said Phoebe.

"That's fair," said Aria," let the roomba go forward. Raspian, stay behind it this time."

"Oh I can see perfectly in the dark. I don't need no roomba."

"You want to be the one to bump into one of those spiders that are alive?" asked Aria, jaw set challengingly.

"I am going to walk beside the robot to help it," he declared and promptly walked off.

Aria let out a sigh. Asher went off behind Rasp, the three girls bringing up the rear.

As they passed the carcass, Cass could make out more details on the creature. It looked to have been killed by being impaled with some kind of huge claw. Whatever killed thing, I don't want to meet it. Also is it's blood bubbling?

Cassandra peered closer, and she could make out a bright neon green liquid dripping from the wound, hissing and spluttering on contact with the ground. It was melting right through the floor. That has to be like Fluoroantimonic acid at least.

"Cass come along," said Aria from ahead. She looked up. The other four had already left her behind except Aria who gave her a smile. Cass felt some heat rise in her cheeks. That's weird. Am I getting a fever? Is this place too cold? What is happening?

"Cass," called Aria again and Cass snapped out of it.

"Coming, Aria," she said, shaking her head to see if that would do anything. She jogged to join the others as they went further into the dark tunnel.

The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever, the darkness not letting up one bit. Adding to that was the fact that it got colder the deeper they went. Cass didn't usually mind the cold or the dark but something about the place just made her uneasy. The whole place seemed somehow alive and she didn't like the feeling one bit. The one positive was that they did not run into any other spiders alive or dead. Maybe that one was a stray that wondered too far from its web.

After what seemed like an hour of walking although it was more like ten minutes, they could see a faint light at the end. Seeing this, they quickened their pace.

They had walked in silence for the past few minutes, everyone probably trying to process the vine incident. Cass didn't mid the silence. She was used to it, having had almost no one to talk to her whole life beside her calculator. And her calculator had never talked back.

She was broken out of her thoughts by a shout from Asher.

"From the frying pan into the fire," he said," this place smells just as bad as earlier."

"At least isn't rancid," remarked Aria, as the three girls entered.

"This is tolerable," added Phoebe.

"This is insulting my nostrils," declared Rasp.

"As if anyone cares about those," said Asher, turning and promptly walking head first into a metal pole or that's what the impact sounded like.

Upon closer inspection, Cass could see that it was actually a spider web. It was a massive structure, each strand of spider silk as thick as a telephone pole. Well that must have been its home.

"I told you," said Phoebe," there must be hundreds of spiders here."

"You're thinking of Acromantula's Phoebe," said Aria, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder," real life spiders don't hang out in groups."

"But this thing is a monster, how do we know that it isn't living in a pack?" asked Phoebe.

"Do you see any other webs?" asked Asher from up ahead," I thought you had a few brains in there."

This seemed to reassure Phoebe for the time being as Aria patted her sympathetically.

"So what now?" asked Cass," do we like settle down for the night here or something. I'm a little sleepy."

"Well it does look pretty devoid of life," said Aria," maybe we should camp out here then. It is definitely night time if my watch is telling me the truth."

"Pfft...it's still 1 am. That is still the evening for me,"said Asher.

"You can stay awake all you want, but we are going to have some rest here," began Phoebe," did you know that a minimum of eight hours of sleep is needed for a healthy lifestyle. If you don't get that you can..."

"Spare us the details, Mom. We get it," said Asher before Phoebe could go off on a rant."

"So we're staying here then?" asked Cass.

"I'm staying here," declared Rasp.

"I don't want to stay in the dark. Count me in," replied Phoebe.

"Let's stay here for the night then," agreed Aria.

"Wait a minute, I didn't agree to this Katniss," objected Asher.

"Do I look like I care?" she asked, a hint of steel in her voice.

Cass could feel the emotion in that one. Looks like she's still feeling that last insult. I wonder what that's all about. Maybe she'll tell me if I ask nicely.

"You're outnumbered," said Raspian, dryly," If you want to live with the dead spide, maybe go cuddle it and sleep there."

Asher didn't look happy about it but he didn't move.

"Let's try to figure out a couple of spots where we can sleep," suggested Phoebe," its important that we find a place where we are protected from this cold because we might get hyporthermia and freeze to death right after."

"Let's split up," suggested Aria," you two either find a place or kill each other. The three of us will find our own spot."

Raspian only grunted in reply. Asher didn't make a sound.

Aria, Phoebe and Cass walked deeper into the chamber. The two girls moved towards what looked like a fairly clean spot at the corner of the chamber. The whole area was covered in multicolored splotches that ressembled giant blood splatters. White goo was scattered in several places along with more telephone pole sized spider silk.

"Uhh....girls?" asked Phoebe, tentatively. She bit her lip while she fidgeted with her hands .

"Yes?" said Aria.

"I need to uh...handle some business," she said, twisting her legs strangely," if you know what I mean. I'm going to find a place to do that. You two act normal."

"Of course. Stay safe," said Aria.

Phoebe nodded her head vigorously and waved her hands.

'Yes?" asked Cass.

Phoebe gave them a weak smile and whispered," Could you two like stand g...guard?"

Aria smiled at Phoebe and whispered back," Of course we will. Isn't that right Cass?"

"Abosolutely," agreed Cass nodding enthusiastically. Wait a minute. Why did I say yes so quickly?

Pheobe ran off quickly, the two girls trailing behind her jogging to keep up. Cass exchanged a smile with Aria. Looks like Phoebe has a serious one.

It took them a minute to find an appropriate place to assure Phoebe's privacy but soon Cass and Aria were standing guard. Cass crossed her arms and held her rifle pointed down, trying to emulate a security guard.

"So Aria," began Cass, tentatively once she was sure that Phoebe was out of earshot. I have to try at least don't I?

"Yes?" asked Aria, lifting her head.

"I just wanted to ask something."

"Fire away Cass."

"Umm...umm," began Cass, gulping. Gosh why is this so hard. You can do it Cassandra. This is just like a second order differential equation.," I just uhh....wanted to ask about what got you so upset earlier when Asher mentioned your father. I'm sorry if I brought up any bad memories. I just...I'm...a little curious." Wow Cass. Just wow. Very smooth.

"Ohh," said Aria, realization dawning in her eyes," That, Cass, is a very long story."

"It's okay if you don't want to say anything. I'm so sorry for asking," said Cass. Stupid. Stupid. One girl genuinely seems to want to be a friend and you mess it up by asking a stupid personal question.

Her fear must have been visible in her eyes because Aria's expression softened.

"It's okay really. It isn't this massive secret or anything like that," she said. "Its just that our house was attacked one day and..." A single tear worked its way down her cheeks.

Cass did the only things she could and flung her arms around Aria mumbling I'm sorry.

"I...I was too young to do anything. My mother took me and fled. There was nothing I could do. I was helpless and all I heard was a hail of gunfire," she said returning the hug.

"I'm so sorry. That must have been...I can't even imagine how much that would hurt. I really want to introduce Asher to the business end of this rifle now."

That managed to get a small smile out of Aria. Cass did a mental happy dance. I finally did something right for once in a friendship.

"Why are you two hugging?" asked a voice from the behind them. It was Phoebe.

"Aren't you two supposed to be on guard duty?" she continued," Anyway, shall we go find a place to sleep already?"
Stay Safe
The Princess of Darkness

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Shadeflame says...



Asher slung his back pack over his shoulder, dropping it on the ground, and then flopped down beside it. The girls were gone, to who knows where, and it was just him and Captain Obvious. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't heard Raspian's voice in a while. Asher looked around, his head still throbbing, and saw the boy in question rummaging through through a backpack.

"Oi, what are you doing," he called out, pushing himself upright.

Raspian glared over at him. "None of your business."

"Are you stealing food?" Asher craned his neck over to see what he was doing, but Raspian positioned his body so it blocked Asher's view.

"We're back!" Aria called out, walking towards the campsite with Phoebe and Cass trailing behind her. Her brows furrowed as she saw Raspian bent over the backpack. "What are you doing?"

Raspian ignored her.

She marched up to him and glared at him. "Are you trying to steal food?"

He scowled at her. "I'm not stealing, because it's not your food."

Phoebe's eyes grew wide. "There's a certain amount of food that we brought and we can't go over our rations for the day or we'll starve even sooner."

"She's right," Cass chimed in. "The serving sizes have been carefully calculated and you can see on the packages how much you're supposed to eat each day to make it last for the longest possible time."

Aria snatched the backpack away from him. "You'll get your food when it's time to eat, not whenever you feel hungry."

Asher closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. Life was about as good as it could get on an alien planet right now, so there was no point in stressing about the future. Raspian had just gotten told off, and Aria was leaving him alone, so he could take a short nap-

"Asher!" Aria interrupted his thoughts. "Go find us some firewood. We don't want to be in the dark tonight, and the light will help keep away any wild animals."

Asher rolled his eyes but got up, grumbling about doing menial work and how the animals would most likely be attracted to the fire anyways,


A few hours later the group was clustered around a small campfire, that Aria had managed to get started. Asher gnawed dejectedly on his ration for the day, a small biscuit. Raspian had complained more at how little they each got, but Aria, Cass, and Phoebe had scolded him firmly.

He reached his hands out to warm them by the fire, the crackling noises of it soothing his ears.

Aria, who was sitting opposite him, yawned. "We'd better get to bed," she said.

Cass nodded, her eyelids drooping.

"So," Aria continued, standing up and stretching. "I'll take the first watch. Who wants to go next? Asher?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Asher held up his hands in protest. "What's all this about keeping watch."

Aria sighed. "We're keeping watch so wild animals don't come and KILL us in our sleep. But I guess Asher wants to kill us all so never mind then."

Aria was definitely still salty about their fight from early. Girls. So emotional.

"I never said I wanted us to die," Asher scoffed. "Don't worry about it Aria, I can watch and then you'll be safe. It's okay that you're scared of the dark, don't worry about it."

Aria gritted her teeth but stayed quiet at a touch on the arm from Cass. "I'll wake you up when it's time," she said. "Cass can go after you, and then..." She turned to Phoebe. "Are you up for the last bit of the night?"

Phoebe nodded, her face white but determined. "Don't worry about me, I can handle it."

Raspian looked up from his food. "What about me?"

Asher smirked at him. "You're too dumb to recognize a monster when you see one, so you get to sleep and be useless."

"Shut up Asher," Aria glared at him. "It's not that you're useless Raspian..." her voice was almost a whisper, "it's just that you sort of are."

Asher gloated inwardly. Serves Captain Obvious right. Now almost everyone agreed with what Asher had been saying before, this guy was pitiful.

"Anyways!" Aria struggled to change the subject before anyone else got offended, or started a fight. "Like I said, we should get to sleep."

Cass glanced at her. "Where are we going to sleep?"

Aria looked over at the pile of backpacks. "I think there are a few blanket in there."

Phoebe narrowed her eyes. "A few blankets? Like how many is a few?"

Aria checked inside of the backpacks. "One," she counted, pulling it out. "Two, and three. Three blankets."

The five teenagers shared a collective glance.

"If one person is always gonna keep watch..." Cass broke the silence. "That means that two people are gonna have to share."

"I call not it!" Asher exclaimed.

"So do I!" Raspian chimed in.

Aria heaved a sigh. "I can share with someone. But it won't be any of the boys."

Phoebe glanced worriedly around, and Cass smiled at her. "Don't worry, Phoebe," she said, her face growing hotter. "I'll share with Aria."

"Thanks," Aria smiled at Cass.
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KateHardy says...



Cassandra and Aria


Aria sat under the blanket with Cass sleeping next to her already. She hadn't realized just how tired the girl was. She looked over at her and had to stop herself from laughing when she saw a few strands of hair on Cass's face. Without thinking about it, she reached out and stroked them away.

Turning away, she looked back into the orange flames, her eyes suddenly becoming droopy. Now that she was sitting there under the warm blanket a fire by her feet, she began to realize just how much she needed to sleep. She didn't even know if she would be able to stay awake if she took the first watch.

Sighing, she removed the blanket and went to go wake up Asher, he was a better choice than Raspian, good heavens if she woke that guy up. She wouldn't get him to shut up about how he needs his sleep to make himself look handsome. She shivered at the thought.

Leaning down, she gently nudged Asher's shoulder bringing out a long snort from the boy as he sat up in a hurry, eyes narrowed. Looking around, his eyes landed on Aria.

"What?" he snapped, rubbing his eyes.

Letting her anger go from earlier, Aria send gently, "Would it be okay if you took the first watch? I'm afraid if I do I'll fall asleep."

"So?" Asher grumbled.

"What if a monster comes?" Aria hissed quietly.

Asher shrugged, laying back down and pulling the blanket over his head. "It will get Captain Obvious first and I don't see that as a bad thing."

Standing up, Aria crossed her arms. "Come on Asher, please!"

A few seconds of silence passed before a low groan came from Asher as he sat up again. "Fine, but only this once..."

"Thank you so much." Aria said. "Wake me in about two hours."

Letting out a low sigh, Aria went back to where Cass was wrapped up in the blanket. The girl was still fast asleep. Smiling, Aria took her hair out letting it fall over her shoulders in long black curly waves. Removing her jacket, leaving her in her top, she lifted the blanket to slide in.

As she did, Cass stirred.

"Five more minutes, Mom," she mumbled sleepily.

"Sorry for waking you," Aria said quickly, eyes wide. "I didn't mean too!"

Cass shifted, slowly opening her eyes.

"I don't wanna...," she began before she manage to process who had accidentally woken her. She immediately went beetroot red.

"Oh...um..umm...hi...that's okay," she stuttered quickly.

"Are you okay?" Aria asked watching as Cass's face only got redder.

"Umm...yaa..is there a problem?" asked Cass," something on my face?"

"No its just...red." Aria mumbled, lying down, her hair surrounding her face. "Umm, I've never...been in a bed with someone else so..." Aria didn't know what more to say. It felt so strange, she didn't want to come across as rude though.

"Ohh..its the cold I think. It makes blood flow increase to your facial capillaries," said Cass, swallowing rapidly," I haven't either...guess...uhh...we.." She made several vague gestures.

"Lets just stick to our sides." Aria said quietly looking at a moody Asher in the corner. "Umm, night?"

'Hmm...ya we are totally not going to be sharing the same spot or anything," Cass said nodding vigorously. "Umm..ya uh...it is night isn't it...I mean ...umm good night!"

Aria couldn't help but laugh, "Night." Turning on her side, she slowly felt herself fall into a deep sleep.

Cass mumbled a 'Sweet Dreams' before she settled back into her corner and closed her eyes. It took her several minutes to fall asleep, her mind running a mile a minute as it tried to process all the feelings running rampant through her.

*******


"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty, you've been out for long enough," came Asher's irritated voice.

Sittling up quickly, Aria looked over at a baggy eyed Asher. Stretching her arms, she let out a small groan. "Sorry Asher, how long was I asleep?"

"Oh not long," he began," just two and a half hours...I've been trying to wake you for the past half an hour." He huffed and crossed his arms. "Don't ever ask me to do this again.'

Aria let out a small squeak. "Oh my gosh I am sooo sorry! I did't think I would sleep so long." Standing up, she grabbed Asher's shoulders and shoved him towards his blanket. "Go get some sleep."

'Wow I was just waiting for you to tell me," he said, rolling his eyes and trudged off towards his blanket.

Aria stuck her tongue out at him but was happy he didn't see it. There could have been a good shouting match if he did. Sitting down facing the fire, she let out a small yawn as she tried to shake off the sleep. Clearing her thoughts, she grabbed a stick and poked the fire with it, sending small crackles into the air.

Cass stirred as she heard voices, followed by some crackling noise. Worried that it might be some monster creeping up, she sat up, looking for Aria, who was supposed to be next to her. Seeing an empty blanket, her eyes widened.

"Aria," she called softly not wanting to wake anyone who might be asleep.

"I'm over here Cass." Aria called back keeping her voice low. "Aren't you supposed to be asleep? It's late." Aria tilted her head to the side, her hair not yet tied up, it still fell in thick black curls over her shoulders.

"Oh the sound woke me up," replied Cass, slowly standing up. Her fiery red hair was all over her face. She pushed them out of her face one by one and gave Aria a small smile.

"Oh..." Aria trailed off as her eyes landed on Cass's fiery hair, it just seemed to frame her face perfecty. "Umm, you want to sit with me?" She asked sending a smile in Cass's direction, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Uh..su..sure, I guess," said Cass, now looking nervous as she made her way towards the fire.

"U..unless you want to go back to sleep." Aria said quickly getting the feeling Cass didn't want too.

"Oh, it's fine. I'm awake now. There's no going back to sleep," said Cass, quickly and hurried toward the fire at a more reasonable speed. She slowly sat down as if she was afraid the floor might explode if she sat too fast.

Aria watched her, a hint of a smile creeping onto her face. "Oh me too..." She poked the fire again looking into it with a content sigh. "Soo..."

"...uhh...I guess we'll keep watch together," said Cass," we can maybe stay until both our turns are over...if you want to of course...you know if you need sleep it's fine. I can stay up alone."

"Uh no, no its fine." Aria bit her lip as she tried to think of something to talk about.

Cass' face lit up at that.

"So...uhh...we have like four hours I think..." began Cass as she trailed off, trying to figure out what they should talk about.

"About...Asher wasn't happy when he woke me up." Aria said trying to start up a conversation.

"Ohh...why's that?" asked Cass.

"Oh, well I asked him to take first watch. Lets say he was more than happy to get it over with." Aria let out a small giggle.

"Ohh...well he's always mean to everyone," said Cass," it would be a surprise if he was actually being nice."

"Well he is nice in his own ways, we just don't see it." Aria groaned. "But Raspian is the one I worry about, I think he's more into looks then books."

"Definitely. He only knows to say that he can do things, when it comes to actually doing things he's horrible at everything except looking at his reflection."

"And fixing his hair, don't forget the hair, and being a loud mouth, I think that's what he studied in school." Aria let loose a small laugh.

"Yaa...he studied Narcissology," she said," he probably also has a PHD in how to be annoying."

Aria laughed. "Maybe, or his just like that, because he wants to annoy everyone." She looked at the sleeping forms of the boys, "I have an idea. Follow me." Slowly she got up and crept over to the boys.

"Uhh sure," said Cass, getting up as silently as she could and following Aria.

Aria stopped next to Raspian's blanket, putting a finger to her lips she told Cass to keep quiet. Removing the blade from the strap attached to her pants she lowered it to Raspian's hair. An evil grin came onto her face as she hacked off a little hair.

Cass had to try very hard to stifle her laughter, clamping a hand over her mouth so that she didn't accidentally wake anyone up.

Keeping the hair, Aria scattered it on Asher's hand, The stage for revenge was set. She waved Cass to follow her as she walked back to the fire.

Cass followed behind, unable to believe that Aria could be so daring. Her respect for Aria climbed up a few notches.

"Wow, you are the most awesome person I've met," gushed Cass, as soon as they sat down and promptly went beet red again.

Aria laughed. "Oh they will pay for it in the morning, I can't let Raspin have his shift now." She rubbed her hands together before putting them above the fire. "Maybe next time they will think twice about arguing with me. You mess with the cat you get the claws."

"I know I will never ever pick a fight with you," said Cass.

Aria laughed. "Well you don't have a reason to, we are girls we think about our actions, and they are boys, they think about their actions after they have done them, its in their DNA."

"Yup. Statement of the day right there," said Cass," Something is fundamentally wrong...oops sorry I keep using these giant words."

Aria waved her hand at her, "That's fine. You must have gone to a nice school to learn of those things."

"You could say that," said Cass," just that not everyone accepts it like that."

"Oh? Why not?" Aria asked, confused.

"Umm..." said Cass, looking down at her lap," it's a long story."

"Well I have time!" Aria said scooting closer to her. "Come on, I told you mine."

"Uhh...where should I start..." said Cass, still not looking up," it's not a very nice story. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

Aria nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm sure it can't be as bad as mine, so i can take anything!"

"Umm...okay...if you're sure you want to listen to it," said Cass," you deserve it I think."

Aria only looked at Cass waiting for her to continue.

"Umm...well you probably figured out by now that I like science and math a lot," said Cass, slowly, looking up slowly at Aria, who seemed suddenly a lot closer than before. She felt her face heat up.

"Yeah I thought the long words came from you liking math and stuff." Aria giggles, her eyes landed on Cass' red face. "Are you okay?" She asked putting her hand on her forehead. "You look like your burning up."

"I'm okay," replied Cass," it's just hot in here all of a sudden. Don't you feel it? "

Aria looked confused. "No, its rather cold." She shrugged as she scooted away. "So whats it like having a big family?"

"Umm...well my family is nice...just that not everyone is that nice," she said, giving Aria a small smile," you're one of the first...no who am I kidding...you're the only one who's ever talked to me like this unless they had some ulterior motive."

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Aria asked more to herself. "I mean your a wonderful girl and what more would anyone want than to be your friend? I mean are you rich?"

"Oh shush, I'm just a short, awkward nerd that no one wants as a friend," said Cass, unable to stop a huge smile from breaking out," I'm so surprised that someone as cool as you are would even want to talk to me."

Aria shushed her. "Oh come on, your sweet and easy to talk to, I don't see why anyone wouldn't want to be your friend." Aria sighed as she leaned back on her hands. "In fact know one wanted to be my friend because they were afraid I would put an arrow through their heads...though most of them were boys who made fun of my father, so I would have most of the time." She laughed a little.

"Aww...you are the sweetest person too," said Cass, unconsciously scooting closer to Aria," if they make fun of something like that I would put an arrow through them too. How are people so mean? That's what happened to me too. Children in school call me names and just ignore me all the time. They only talk to me if they want their homework checked." A small tear ran down Cass' cheek. "It's not easy when you are in a class of twenty people but you still feel like you are the only person there."

Aria looked at Cass as she sighed and lowered her head. "Yeah, people are like that sometimes." She put an arm around her. "But sometimes we're stronger than they think, and even if you didn't have friends your still an amazing person. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Cass leaned against Aria slightly, feeling like electricity was being conducted into her where Aria's hand rested on her shoulder.

"Well I can say the same for you. You are without a doubt the kindest person I've ever known. I know you will never out an arrow through either of us...okay maybe you'll put an arrow through Raspian or Asher but not through anyone who isn't a jerk."

Aria quickly shook her head. "No only the boys, if their silly again then maybe I might have to come close to it, but I don't think I would. Their too funny to get rid of." She winked. "I might just need to cut Raspian's hair again. "Speaking of that I wonder when they will wake up, it is sunrise."

"I don't know...I guess Phoebe will have to wake them up once its the end of her turn to keep watch. Those two are sleeping like people who passed out after drinking too much," said Cass."

Aria looked at the boys and sighed. "I don't really want to have Phoebe wake them up, I mean after the prank I pulled, I think hell might break loose. I think I'll just keep watch. Why don't you get another hour or so of sleep, you look really tired."

"No its okay, I can stay up. You don't have to stay up all alone," replied Cass.

Aria smiled at her. "Thanks, it is nice having someone to talk to." She let out a small sigh as she looked into the burning out fire. "Maybe we should get some wood? I don't think leaving them for a little bit will hurt."

"Of course. I haven't had many conversations in my life so I hope I do okay with this one," she replied," umm probably a good idea. I don't think letting poor Phoebe do it all alone would be nice."

Aria nodded. "And if something happens I have my bow. Well them My Lady shall we be off." Aria giggled as she did a small bow extending her hand. "I shall be your knight in shining armor who shall fight of these ghastly monsters for you fair lady!"

"Why thank you, fair knight," said Cass, playing along and blushing bright red for the third or fourth time that night(she'd lost count)," I'll accompany you. Should I take the gun too just in case?"

Aria smiled. "If my lady does not feel safe with a few arrows then she may." She laughed again. She picked up her bow with the arrows and swung them over her shoulder.

"Oh I feel perfectly safe with you. I just wanted to have an extra thing just in case, you know, who knows what is living in this area," said Cass, laughing with Aria.

"True," Aria looked at the other three before making her way to the exit. "I do want to be back before Raspian wakes up though." She let out a sly giggle. "Can't miss his reaction."

"Oh yes I definitely don't want to miss that, although having a gun in hand when it happens will be good," Cass agreed, also unable to contain her giggles.

Aria laughed with her as she picked sticks up as she went. "We might not need to leave to cave if there is here sticks here."

"Okay, let's look for some then," said Cass, looking around for anything dry.

Aria left Cass's side to go look for more wood.

Cass went the other way, looking for anything that she could find. She'd never gone camping a day in her life, so she mostly tried to copy what Aria seemed to be doing, inspecting sticks and checking if they were dry enough to be burnt.

Aria cast a look behind her at Cass, her hair still flowing around her head and shoulders in soft waves. She couldn't stop the small blush that came onto her cheeks. What was this feeling of hope and joy she was getting, she had never felt that way in so long. Was it affection? Maybe? She tried to shrug it off as she picked up the last stick she could carry. Turning around she quickly made her way over to Cass. "I think we have enough." She breathed, her face still hot and flushed.

Cass continued to stumble around, still not sure if she was picking up actually usable things or if she was just collecting a bunch of useless sticks. "Maybe we can throw them at Asher if they turn out to be useless," she thought, smiling to herself. She glanced over at Aria to see how she was doing. As she looked over at her, she couldn't stop herself from blushing bright red like she had been doing all night long. Cass couldn't quite place what she was feeling. All these feelings were so new to her. She wished she had a book to consult or maybe a library. Yes that was what she needed. A library.

She was disturbed out of her thoughts by Aria arriving a pile of sticks in her hand. She glanced guiltily at the measly five sticks that she had collected.

"Sorry I didn't find that much," she said.

Aria looked at the sticks. "Oh thats fine." She laughed. "For someone who reads lots of books you don't know much about living out doors do you." Aria nudged her with her shoulder. "Come on we should get these on the fire and wake Phoebe up. We should try to get some sleep." She sent Cass one last smile before making her way over to the fire putting the wood in one at a time.

"Yaa...I've never really done anything outdoors except when I go to the library and I don't think that counts," said Cass, returning Aria's smile," hmm we should be getting sleep soon. Let's hurry up and finish this fire then. Sorry I don't know enough to help you. Maybe I'll go wake Phoebe up?"

Aria nodded as she finished up the fire.

Cass went over to the sleeping Phoebe and gently nudged the girl. It took a few tries but she stirred, blinking rapidly..

"Whaaaa?" asked a sleepy Phoebe.

"It's time for you to keep watch," answered Cass," just the last two hours till morning."

"Ahh oki. I'm up now. You get some sleep then Cass. Sweet dreams," said Phoebe, slowly starting to stretch.

"Thanks Phoebe. You have a good time yourself."

Cass walked towards the blanket and waited for Aria to come over.

Once Aria was done with the fire wood she said goodnight to Phoebe and made her way over the Cass. "Umm, night." She mumbles, getting under the blanket, she looked at the far wall turned away from Cass as she tried to crush the feelings she was getting.

Cass mumbled a reply that was halfway between a "Good Night and a Sweet Dreams" as she turned the other way and closed her eyes, trying to make sense of the thoughts swirling in her head. She fell asleep her mind still not managing to come to a conclusion that she was satisfied. She couldn't be developing feelings for Aria now could she? No that was just wrong.

Finally Aria felt herself drift into a light sleep, the outside world blacking out.

*******


Someone was shaking Cass. She groggily tried to evade the hand and ended up on something sharp. She sat up with an 'OW' and looked around. She'd managed to roll of the blanket. She looked around for Aria and saw that she was off tending to the fire. Asher was standing in front of her, looking gloomy. Phoebe and Raspian were still sleeping in their blankets.

Aria looked in Cass' derection, "Oh you're awake!" a soft smile forming on her face. "How you sleep?"

"Morning," mumbled Cass sleepily, an identical smile forming on her face," okay...how about you. Sleep okay?"

Aira laughed. "I slept fine." She looked Cass over. "You're not a morning person are you?"

"No I'm not," Cass said, rubbing her eyes vigorously and trying to kickstart her brain out of zombie mode. It was refusing to get started.

Aria stood, "Well I think Asher can keep things under hand here, lets go for a walk, it always gets me going in the mornings." She smiled as she picked up her bow. "Besides I might as well see if there is something to hunt."

"Hmm...sure...I should stretch my legs too or else I will be in zombie mode all morning."

Aria nodded. "Okay come on then!" Without looking behind her, she made a run for the exit at top speed.

Cass hauled herself to her feet, grabbed the rifle next to her and followed, jogging as fast as she could.

Knocking her bow with an arrow, Aria slowly walked out into the maze, the light was a little blinding but her eyes soon got used to it. Looking around she could see nothing but rock.

"Hey wait up!" called Cass, breathing hard as she struggled to keep up with the large rifle in hand," couch potato here!"

Aria turned to face a red faced Cass. "Oh sorry, I forget you lived in the city. I'm used to having to move fast or the food will get away." She let out a giggly laugh.

Cass gave her a guilty smile. "I can understand. Sorry if I hold you up today. If you want I can stay behind If you think I'll slow you down too much."

Aria quickly shook her head. "No. I can slow down. I'm always on the run as it is, so it will be good for me too...try and slow down." She sent Cass another smile then got moving again, only this time slower.

"Thanks for being so understanding," said Cass, shouldering her rifle like she's seen in all those action movies and hoping she didn't look stupid. She stayed beside Aria, as they wondered into the gloomy tunnel. She studied the surroundings in the bit of extra light they had now that it was morning.

Rough rock surrounded them on all sides, covered in several vines. She shuddered when she saw the vines hoping they didn't come alive.

Pulling the string to her bow back Aria stood there looking the area over. Its gloomy feeling putting her on edge. "Lets keep moving." she instructed, her bossy side coming out.

"Yes M'am," said Cass, bowing as she followed along, still doing her best not to look stupid.

"I wonder if there is something out here we can hunt?" Aria mumbled to herself as she looked around. "Let hope nothing bad shows up though."

"Hmm...some real food would be nice other that dehydrated stuff in the packets," said Cass," and oh dear I really hope we don't run into any of those spiders. I think that's webbing up there. We'll have to be really careful."

Aria looked towards the webbing. "Umm Cass." She said quickly taking a step back, her bow drawn all the way out, "There's something moving up there." she hissed.

"Really," whispered Cass, fiddling with the gun's charging handle, her hand slippery with sweat from running after Aria. She finally managed to flick it all the way down and it charged up with a low humming sound as she stepped closer to Aria and tried to make out what she was pointing at.

"Try not to freak out will you!" Aria snapped. " We can easily take it down." Taking a closer look she aimed her bow. "It looks like it might be a baby. I'm going to kill it before mother shows up to give us what for." With that she let the string bow, a loud whizzing could be heard soon followed by a thud.

"I'm so sorry," said Cass, eyes downcast at angering Aria. She watched with baited breath as the bow released its arrow with a whiz. She could hear a thud as it embedded itself into a web on the wall. She could now see movement as the startled spiderling charged for them.

Knocking up another arrow onto her bow, Aria took aim for the Spider and let loose again, this time hitting it in the head. She watched it fall to the ground before running over to take a better look. "Yeah we should get out of that cave really quick." Aria said showing Cass the spider. "Its just the same as the ones that just died in the cave. If I'm right I would say there is a larger one of these that's going round and killing the rest." Aria tapped her chin. "Maybe something to do with too many males in one area."

"WOW you are smart," said Cass, hurrying over to the dead spider. Even the baby was still about as big as your average housecat. Cass pointed her rifle and pressed the trigger to make sure it couldn't surprise them. A loud "TZZZ" and the spider's arrow wound, dripping acidic green blood was widened as the inside of its head was turned into slimy green confetti.

"Sorry I had to make sure it couldn't come back to life. I think we should go let the other's know. Maybe even take one of these things legs to prove that it's real or you know Asher and Raspian will just make a fuss and not believe us." Then she suddenly pulled Aria into a hug.

"Thanks for being so brave and killing the spider even when I was freaking out a bit there," she whispered in Aria's ear.

Aria was a little shocked but soon smiled into Cass's shoulder. "Umm, know problem. If you lived the life I have you learn to put you emotions to the side." Pulling out of the hug Aria put the spider on the floor, putting one of her feet on the body she grabbed one of the legs and pulled it off green blood spraying onto her bow, the wood didn't react though only left small burn marks. "There this should do the trick. Lets get back before a large guest shows up."

Cass returned her smile. The mental happy dance in her mind had to be because of the spider kill. Not the hug. No that can't be right. She snapped back to reality when Aria mentioned a large guest. That was something that she desperately wanted to avoid.

"Yes let's get back soon then. Hopefully Pheobe and Mr. Narcissology is awake so that we can get out of this cave as soon as possible. This is starting to look more and more dangerous the longer we spend here.

Aria nodded. "Yeah." Looking at the leg one more time she made a dash back to the cave at top speed, Cass on her heels.

Cass struggled to keep up again, but the heavy spider leg slowing Aria down allowed her to stay close to her. Cass coudn't help but glance back every five seconds to make sure nothing big and hairy was following them. She couldn't see anything but something told her they were going to see one of them today one way or the other.

Dashing into the cave and down to where the others were Aria couldn't help the small feeling of worry as she skidded to a stop in front of Asher, who gave her a questioning look.

Cass slid to a stop after Aria, still glancing behind her. She nodded vigorously as Aria began to raise the spider leg.

Holding up the leg she breathed out, "We have a problem."
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Tue Nov 10, 2020 3:26 am
KateHardy says...



Asher

by @HarryHardy and @FlamingPhoenix


"Stupid Katniss," mumbled Asher under his breath, as he stomped towards a place to sit. "Why did I just allow myself to get talked in to this? Stupid." He kicked a nearby rock for emphasis. The rock went rolling cross the stone floor fading into the darkness. Stomping over to the fire Asher looked over one of the logs before sitting down. Why couldn't he have said no, it wasn't that hard. Picking up a stick he poked the burning umbers the sound of wood crackling filling the cave.

He settled down. It was too late now. Katniss and the Encyclopedia were having some sort of chat as they lay down to sleep. He took a deep breath as he prepared to find a way to while away the two hours he would have to keep watch.

Leaning back on his hands he looked up, looks like he was going to be bored out of his mind for a long time. He would have to get Katniss back for this later, she wanted to be the leader so she should have stuck to her own plan. Groaning he shot a glare in the girls direction. In the end he always had to save the day, and what did he get for it...nothing.

Asher let loose a few more curses towards the girls for good measure. They were acting up far too much. He should obviously be the leader. If it wasn't for him they wouldn't even be on this stupid rock, none of them could have flown that ship. He let these thoughts simmer in his head for a while as he stared out at the dark tunnels leading out, watching for any signs of movement.

If it wasn't for him they all would be dead. He was the one that saved them from the monster earlier. It was clear even then he should lead, he had the best idea out of all of them, hell he was the one who came up with an idea. Hah and that Aria wanted to get to a safe place before doing anything, now that's just stupid, the monster would have sniffed them out. That's not even all, he killed it, got them all to safety and all he got in thanks was a yell in the face for HIM being the one rushing in with out a plan. Hah the nerve. And now there stuck here, being lead by a girl... A GIRL out of all things. He rather be eaten by a monster.

He punched the log that he was sitting on. This vacation was going wildly off course from what he had imagined when he boarded the cruise ship. First they get attacked by pirates of all things and now he was stuck here not being recognized for his accomplishments. They were actually scolding him for it.

Pushing the thoughts aside because they were getting him nowhere, he focused on keeping watch and let his mind settle down.

*******


The two hours were gone before he knew it and soon it was time to wake Aria. He made his way over to the sleeping bag where Aria and Cass were sleeping.

Scowling at them he leaned down grabbing Aria by the shoulders. Giving her a rough shake he said loud enough for her to hear but not wake the others. "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty, you've been out for long enough," came Asher's irritated voice. He had wanted to kick her awake or something but against his better judgement he didn't.

Sitting up quickly, Aria looked over at a baggy eyed Asher. Stretching her arms, she let out a small groan. "Sorry Asher, how long was I asleep?"

"Oh not long," he began, deciding to make her feel bad by making her think she overslept," just two and a half hours...I've been trying to wake you for the past half an hour." He huffed and crossed his arms. "Don't ever ask me to do this again.'

Aria let out a small squeak. "Oh my gosh I am sooo sorry! I didn't think I would sleep so long." Standing up, she grabbed Asher's shoulders and shoved him towards his blanket. "Go get some sleep."

'Wow I was just waiting for you to tell me," he said, rolling his eyes and trudged off towards his blanket. "Stupid," he muttered under his breath as he walked off, keeping his voice low because he was too sleepy to start an argument at that point.

He approached his own sleeping bag next to Captain Obvious. Why couldn't he have his own place to sleep? To tired to think over it any more he got under the blanket and put his head down on the ground it wasn't the best but it would do. Slowly blinking he let the soft touch of sleep take over him.

*******


Rolling over Asher groaned as his head hit something hard, slowly opening his eyes he glared at the rock. How had that gotten there? Sitting up he rubbed his face groaning again. Looking around he could see the slight touch of sunlight creeping into the cave. Morning it is. He let out a small groan as he sat up.

Where is that girl? That stupid encyclopedia probably got kidnapped by monsters while keeping watch. He looked around to see if he could spot the person who was supposed to be taking that particular shift. Nothing. No one seemed to be awake.

He looked over to where the girls had been sleeping. Phobia was still snoring away but there was no sign of the other two. Where did they go? Did Katniss take them monster hunting or something? She seems stupid enough to do that.

Shaking his head, he looked over at Raspian. He had to stop himself for letting loose a loud laugh when he saw his hair hacked away in the worst way possible, how had that happened. Moving his hand around he felt small hairs tickling his palm. Frowning he looked down to see his hand covered in Raspian's hair. "What the!" He shouted. How had that gotten there? Glaring he had to stop the curses from coming out his mouth. This had Aria written all over it. Worried he looked over at Raspian hoping he was still a sleep.

Doing his best not to disturb Raspain, Asher tried to discretely wipe the hairs on his hand on Raspian's sleeping bag, making it look more like the hairs had fallen down on the bag. He quickly got up and moved away from the scene of the crime and towards the fire. It was surprisingly burning quite well, which meant the girls had definitely been around till quite recently.

He looked around the fire, seeing if there were any signs of a monster dragging the girls off. As he did that, he heard the sound of running feet. He turned towards the tunnel.

Looking towards the cave entrance Asher could hear hurried footsteps. What did those girls do now? Get a monster to chase them or something. Nothing that stupid Aria couldn't do.

Dashing into the cave and down to where the others were Aria skidded to a stop in front of Asher, who gave her a questioning look.

Cass slid to a stop after Aria, still glancing behind her. She nodded vigorously as Aria began to raise the spider leg.

Holding up the leg she breathed out, "We have a problem."

Eyes widening, Asher shouted. "What the hell did you do?" making the other two wake up with a start.
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The Princess of Darkness

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Thu Mar 04, 2021 2:50 pm
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KateHardy says...



Cassandra and Aria

by @HarryHardy and @FlamingPhoenix


"WHAT. DID. YOU. DO?" came a yell from nearby, and the sound of someone stomping over.

Cass turned around to see a very grumpy and half asleep looking Raspian stomping over to the three of them. Behind him, Phoebe was rubbing her eyes, probably trying to process why everyone was shouting at the moment.

"Did...YOU..." began Raspian, leaning in closer to Asher and poking him in the chest, "do...THIS." He then seemed to spot the hairs on Asher's leg and hands.

"I KNEW IT, ' shouted Raspian again, "you just COULDN'T keep your hands to yourself, COULD YOU?"

Clearing her face from the building up laughter Aria stepped between the boys, pushing them apart. "Raspian relax, its just hair and it will grow back, its not a toe or anything mager." She turned to Asher the grin she was holding back coming onto her face besides her effort. "And that wasn't very nice, why would you do that?"

Cass snorted barely managing to make it sound like a cough before she accidentally gave them away. She wisely kept her mouth shut before she blurted out something silly.

Raspian meanwhile didn't take well to being pushed.

"It is NOT JUST hair," said Raspian, "it is my beautiful hair that this idiot has ruined. Do you know how much time it takes to keep my hair looking this good?"

Aria turned around facing Raspian, "Clearly to much, its just hair, look it wont hurt you if its a little shorter than it was before. In fact I think you look more handsome like that." She sent a small wink towards Cass, hopefully he will fall for it.

Cass winked back and nodded in agreement.

"Hmm, really, you might have a point there, a person with a face as good as mine could obviously pull of many hair looks. Now if I can just find my hand mirror. It's h..."

As the other four where talking, trying to keep Raspian from having a heart attack there was a loud scream from behind them as Phoebe had finally woken up. She was looking down the cave tunnel pointing and shouting her head off about something scary.

Turning away from the others Aria looked towards Phoebe then the others. "What has gotten into her?"

Running over to them Phoebe tried to push them towards the exit. "We have to run."

Cass shook her head in confusion.

"What's got into you Phobia?" asked Asher, "had a nightmare. There's no one her to make you hot chocolate and rock you to sleep."

"Yeah, can't you see we're in the middle of some important business here," added Raspian.

Phoebe waved her arms at them, "No, you guys have listen to me! I'm not joking."

Aria turned away from the others, fixing her gaze down the tunnel, when she saw the smallest movement in the shadows. Looking down at the leg still in her hand, something in her head seemed to click. Eyes widening she turned to the others and began to push them along with Phoebe. "We have to leave now." She held up the leg. "I think Mama wants her baby back."

Cass eyes widened. She didn't have to be told twice. Phoebe ran ahead of them, Asher not far behind her. Raspian took one look at the spider leg, rubbed his hair and ran, yelling. "I'm too handsome to be eaten by spiders. Why did you idiots go and steal a leg from now? Now I have to clean up your mess?"

"You're going to clean it up by running. Wow, so helpful," mumbled Cass to herself, quietly enough that Raspian wouldn't hear but loud enough for Aria to hear.

"Stop talking and run people!" Phoebe screamed, not bothering to slow down for the others.

Aria soon ran after the others after she grabbed the bags.

"Were do we go?" Phoebe yelled.

"Anywhere, until we find a safe place to hide." Aria called back throwing the leg behind her, she didn't need the spider monster tracking them.

Cass followed after the rest of them, trying not to get left behind, lugging the giant rifle she was carrying. She kept one finger hovering near the trigger, in case she was going to have to use it. She still hadn't seen any of the monsters but Phoebe clearly had which meant that they couldn't be too far off.

"Let's try and get out of this tunnel," yelled Asher, 'I need more space to make my moves."

"And mine, " yelled Raspian from ahead of them somewhere. I'm already looking for a corridor out of here.

Aria turned her head to look behind her, hoping they were keeping up their speed enough to keep a good distance between them and the monsters that want to eat them. To her horror she saw long greenish black legs rushing towards them, and blob like forms in the darkness with spikes protruding from their bodies rushing towards them with scary speed. She quickly came to a stop dropping her things and knocking up her bow, firing arrows at the dark forms, hoping this would give the others time to run.

Cass risked a glance behind them as they ran. She nearly ended up frozen on the spot on fear. What looked like hundreds of the giant creatures in a big black mass was heading straight for them.

She let the weapon in her hand charge up and fired a few beams back at the horde, letting it hit as many of the things as she could muster. She knew the thing in her hand was actually pretty powerful and could do some kind of sweep attack but she had no idea how to activate the thing.

They continued running, the smell of the area starting to get strangely musty almost as if they were running towards some deeper cave rather than an exit. She didn't have much time to think of it however as they continued running, occasionally dodging around increasing obstacles made of discarded cobweb strands.
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The Princess of Darkness

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