Young Writers Society

Myth shouldered his way through the growing crowd in search of hot chocolate. So far, he'd seen @teatiime @gremlingeodes @KaiaJersaga and several others with steaming mugs of either hot chocolate, coffee, or tea. Even @LadyMysterio had a mug when she scolded him for almost missing the train. Then sipped it mockingly in front of him when he asked where she'd got it.

Just then the bat creature came rushing through and stopped to talk to with @momonster quickly about a missing mammoth of all things. Myth turned to look at the camera with her when she broke the fourth wall, asked the audience to say something in Spanish, shrugged when nobody answered and continued on. Mammoth or no, drinks were the priority right now.

The bat-chicken was in the other car and Myth ran up and tapped it on the shoulder.

"Uh hey.." He turned to the camera again (this is fun) "whats this guys name? Okay now in Spanish?"

"I'm Hol Lee Jol Lee. Have you seen my mammoth?" it said concerned.

"Sorry no. I was wondering about some hot chocolate."

"Oh. I really must find my poor mammoth. Ask someone else."

Well that was helpful. Myth decided head back to some of the other people who'd had a drink and ask them. After passing through three carriages. He found a large gathering all with drinks in their hands. There was @Quillfeather @luxeterna @Zyria and @Dossereana but before he could ask he noticed the small table near the door with a number of fancy gilded dispensers and a stack of cups with writer memes on them.

He poured himself some hot chocolate at last, and found a comfortable seat by the window. The train had started and they found themselves in great craggy mountains all of a sudden. Ahead Myth noticed a beautiful wood trestle bridge. Despite the steam rising from his drink he tried to take a small drink. As lifted the mug the train jolted to a stop and half the hot liquid splashed over him. He was glad he had waited for it too cool down a little.

Orabella roamed the train in awe. It was huge and decorated so festive that it hurt her eyes to look at all the beautiful lights. There was all kinds of decorations for all kinds of holidays. Many Christmas trees and red and green lights were everywhere, and a menorah (aka Hanukkah lamp) already stood with 2 candles, with another going to be lit in the evening. Many people already had presents they were putting under trees and dreidels to play with. Although it had not yet started, some Kwanzaa decorations were already being put up.

The train reminded her faintly of the one from the Polar Express, or from Harry Potter, but this one was far bigger and more magnificent and beautiful.

She saw people like @momonster, @TheMythMaster, @teatiime, @gremlingeodes, @KaiaJersaga, and @LadyMysterio sipping different warm beverages and Orabella joined them, sipping a nice hot cocoa. Seeing a bag of mini marshmallows, she dumped maybe 20 on top.

"Uhh... Orabella?" asked @Spearmint.

"That's a lot of marshmallows..." said @alliyah, with her own hot chocolate in hand with maybe a handful of her own marshmallows.

"Hmm, you're right. It's not enough," Orabella replied, dumping more into her cup until there was a small mountain of marshmallows.

She got some weird looks from the others in the train.

Just then, Holl Lee Joll Lee came up and asked them, "Have you seen my Mammoth?"

"No, but I can help you look!" replied Orabella.

He lit up at the offer and started dragging Ora away.

She passed many YWSers like @Ari11, @creaturefeature, @LuminescentAnt, @GengarIsBestBoy, @PKMichelle, @APoltergeist, @DeadMenTe11N0Tales, @foxmaster, @Rose, @AmayaStatham, and @AilahEvelynMae. Orabella explained what they were doing, and many YWSers decided to help.

"It can't be that difficult to find a mammoth in a train, can it?" asks @LucidNightmare.

DeadMan followed the duo.

"Hmm... Do you remember where it was last, Hol Lee Jol Lee?" DeadmenTe11N0Tales asked the strange chicken-batfish-elf creature.

"Let me think... I'll get back to you later." It responded, then waddled off.

"Okay. Well, then who wants to explore?"

This was met with quite a few cheers, so the merry group set off to the next train car.
Upon stepping in, they were hit with the delicious smell of hot chocolate!
[user]@TheMythMaster[/user] practaly trampled [user]@LadyMysterio[/user] to get to it.
DeadMenTe11N0Tales sat back and relaxed on a couch in the corner of the room. DeadMen was just drifting off when...

Suddenly, Hol Lee Jol Lee burst into the room, leaving a cloud of feathers in his wake.

"I remembered DeadMen, and I found a clue!", It chirped happily, bouncing around.
"Follow me! Come on everyone!"

The now-not-so-merry-without-their-hot-chocolate group followed Hol Lee Jol Lee through several train cars.

How long is this train? DeadMenTe11N0Tales wondered.

Finally, Hol Lee Jol Lee stopped and turned around.

"I must warn you, this is not your average train."

[user]@Ari11[/user] chuckled, obviously amused.

"That's an understatement, Hol Lee." He said.

Hol Lee Jol Lee ruffled his feathers, the only sign he was frustrated.

"Listen, this train is fueled by the imagination. It is more than a train, it is a whole world in a train. And it can be dangerous for those with... overactive imaginations."

DeadMenTe11N0Tales wasn't listening, like usual. Her daydream was interrupted by [user]@Spearmint[/user].

"Sooo.. you're saying it's not safe?" She asked, confused.

Hol Lee Jol Lee flapped its bat/bird wings.

"No, no, no! That's not what I mean at all! You know what, let's just get this over with."

Hol Lee threw open the door to the next train car, revealing a grand library.

"OoOoOoh" said [user]@creaturefeature[/user]

"Ahhhhhhh" sighed [user]@foxmaster[/user]

"BOOKS?!?!" DeadMenTe11N0Tales cried, running into the open door.

[user]@PKMichelle [/user] followed suit, as did many others.

After all were in, the door shut behind [user]@momonster[/user]. Hol Lee Jol Lee looked at the group, seeing a few new faces here and there. It sighed and stood up a little taller. It produced a white card from... thin air?

"Here is the clue." It said, giving the card over to DeadMen. She decided to read it out loud.

"It says;
An ice age away, somewhere in this place.
Books abound, will your mammoth be found?
No hints for you, that would be too easy.
Look for a book about somewhere breezy.
I might be a friend or a foe.
Either way, you can call me Moe.".

Poltergeist was not a holiday person; a regular Grinch, one might say. They had been staying up late one night, surrounded by unfinished poetry, scraps of stories, and half-chewn pens, when a paper crane came flying through the window, made out of festive green paper and smacking them in the side of the head.

They were quite baffled upon seeing this, eyes widening as they caught sight of the scrawling handwriting in a suspiciously familiar hand along the side. @Spearmint's, perhaps?

Come quick! YWS Express! Pol stood up in a flurry, sending a rapid text to @starscape, filled with misspellings and typos in their hurry. They were a bit confused by the apparent urgency of the note but they weren't one to deny an adventure! Especially one on a train. They loved trains!

They threw on a trench coat, shoving writing materials and, as an afterthought, a half-eaten sandwich wrapped hastily in a napkin, into their pockets. Who knows when they might get hungry?! A fedora with a scarlet and gold feather went onto their head, translucent hands quickly buttoning up the coat so they wouldn't lose their favorite trench coat.

A train whistled loudly in the distance, nearly with every breath. Pol jumps out of their window, landing in a drift of snow, waiting until it gets close enough for them to hop on, swinging themself inside.

"Hello!" They said, waving excitedly at Holl Joll Lee as the creature welcomed them, tipping their fedora to the conductor before letting themself ooze inside, features blurring before the solidified once again. They spotted many of the welcoming YWS members such as @Spearmint, whom they would have to remember to thank for the crane when they got the chance, @teatiime, @GengarIsBestBoy, @OrabellaAvenue, @Ari11, @creaturefeature, @foxmaster, @momonster and many, many more. They spotted some people they didn't recognize but waved anyway before beginning to search for hot chocolate, stomach grumbling despite the midnight snacks they'd been eating all night.

Poltergeist was immediately distracted by @OrabellaAvenue speaking about a mammoth, listening before nodding enthusiastically.

"Of course I'll help, it would be my honour!" Pol says, following the group, cocoa cupped in their hands. They drifted a few inches above the ground, moving smoothly as they followed between the different train cars, staring at them all in awe.

"Ooh, books!" They twirled over to a shelf, dusting their fingers across the spines with a gleeful expression.

"What is that supposed to mean?" They asked, once again confused as they turned towards @DeadMenTe11N0Tales.

"Moe?" Ari repeated, frowning in concentration as he popped a marshmallow in his mouth. He'd stuffed his hoodie pockets full of them as soon as he spotted them next to the hot cocoa. He glanced up at @APoltergeist as they ran their hand along the bookshelf. "Pol, are there any stories up there with a character named Moe?"

He turned back to @DeadMenTe11N0Tales, reading the not-clue over again. "Somewhere breezy? Like mountains, or a savannah, maybe?"

Ari swallowed. He'd never been good at riddles.

DeadMenTe11N0Tales paced back and forth, replaying the riddle in her head.

"An ice age away, somewhere in this place.
"Well, the mammoth couldn't possibly fit in here, so I gonna guess we have a scavenger hunt ahead of us.".
Books abound, will your mammoth be found?
The next clue is in here somewhere...
No hints for you, that would be too easy.
He put it somewhere we wouldn't expect, I bet.".
Look for a book about somewhere breezy.
"Well, the book is about somewhere that gets a lot of wind...
I might be a friend or a foe.
Either way, you can call me Moe.
Never heard of someone called Moe, though."

DeadMan sat down, pondering. Suddenly she stood up, making both @Ari11 and @APoltergeist jump.

"This Moe gave us more info than I thought! An ice age away, a book about somewhere breezy? Antarctica! I mean, Antarctica holds the record among continents for sustained wind speeds; wind speeds can reach 200 mph there! It has to be it."

DeadMan ran to the section of the library about continents and oceans, skimming each one about Antarctica. @teatiime, @GengarIsBestBoy, @OrabellaAvenue, @Ari11, @creaturefeature, @foxmaster, @momonster and others ran to help. Funny enough, it was Hol Lee Jol Lee who found the clue.

"Look another one! Who wants to read it?" It flapped its wings happily.

@Spearmint stood up and offered to read it.

"You've found the next clue!
"I'm glad, I expected you to."
"The next one is hidden in plain sight,"
"It only shows up in black light."
"I'd say don't worry, but if I were you,"
I'd be in a hurry, to train car 222.

Deadman looked around, and it was clear what they had to do.

@Ari11 led the way, "To train car 222!".

Poltergeist set down their hot cocoa gingerly, not wanting to stain any of these precious books with the brown liquid. "Um, Three Times Lucky?" They blinked, tugging a book off the shelf and staring down at it.

"Nope, nevermind. There's no 'E' in that Mo." Pol said to @Ari11, glancing at the note and sliding the book back onto the shelf.

"Breezy? Like tropical, what about Lord of the Flies?" They paused for a quick second, realizing. "Gosh darnit, there's no Moe in Lord of the Flies either..." They sat down, sipping their cocoa in thought. @DeadMenTe11N0Tales jumping up with excitement startled them and Pol flinched away, cocoa spilling across their lap.

"Antarctica? Who thinks of Antarctica when they think of breezy?" Poltergeist said, shrugging and wiping at the spilt drink with a few napkins, blotting it off of them before standing up, glancing at @Spearmint and shrugged before drifting out after @Ari11 and idly wondering if they had turned off their computer at home...

DeadMan followed @APoltergeist out the door, as did many others like @Spearmint, @teatiime, @GengarIsBestBoy, @OrabellaAvenue, @creaturefeature, @foxmaster,
and @momonster.

She turned to @Ari11, as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a map.

"Where did you get that?", she asked. Deadman didn't remember there being any maps out.

"From Hol Lee Jol Lee, he quite literally pulled it out from behind my ear.",@Ari11 replied.

He pointed at the train car before them and looked down at the map.

"Says here that this "number 222" train car is... wait? What? The letters are moving around!"

Hol Lee Jol Lee appeared out of nowhere and gently took the map out of his hands.

"You see, this is what I meant when I said that the train is dangerous for those with overactive imaginations. Someone is daydreaming...".

It turned around, catching DeadMan red-handed.

"Hehehe... Oopsies?" She sheepishly said.

"Well, DeadMan, if you are gonna daydream, you are gonna do it correctly." the little elf creature said.

It shoved the map in her hands, and suddenly the words rearranged themselves.

The Snack Shack

@Spearmint sighed,

"DeadMan, we literally ate some cookies at the Hot Chocolate Bar..."

DeadMan shrugged and turned the door handle.

"What can I say, food is my first love." She smiled, but when DeadMan looked into the food and dessert wonderland, her jaw dropped.

She stumbled in, and the others followed.