Young Writers Society

This is why people don’t procrastinate… BUT I’M STILL DOING IT

Also why can’t we edit forum posts idk so sad

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By the time Lucius and the group even started walking, the sky was transforming into a neon orange streaked with yellow. Either they had lost track of time rather easily, or time was just as messed up as the terrain in this place. Both seemed plausible.

With a sigh, Lucius caught up to Claud. Ever since Ari had come to live with him, he wasn’t used to extended silence. “So.”

Claud didn’t turn his head, but he made a sound to show that he had heard and was waiting for Lucius to continue.

Struggling to put together the basis for a conversation, Lucius used the first thing that came to mind. “When’d your crush on Reyna start?”

Claud gave him a flat stare, his expression a little too disbelieving to be natural. "What?" Then, he gave Lucius a shove that hurt a little more than he probably intended.

“Ouch, jeez." Time for a topic change. “Then-“

“Shush.” Chris appeared between them, irritation a rather fitting expression on him. “Can’t you hear the ruckus? You’ll get us caught.”

Lucius was going to question that, but he chose the smarter option of listening for what Chris mentioned. At first, there didn’t seem to be anything other than the chatter of birds and their footsteps, but a few moments of focus revealed distant shouts. Human voices, which were getting louder and therefore closer with every second.

Really, though, it shouldn’t have been too surprising. With such a broad entrance requirement, it would be easy to expect a person to pop out of a door every couple seconds. Lucius wasn’t quite sure why the arena wasn’t full of people. Perhaps too much blood was shed and bodies vanished to fully populate the area.

For a man that was facing an unknown number of likely assailants, Lucius didn’t feel nearly as scared as he felt he should. Yes, there was panic, and definitely worry, but there wasn’t any heart-dropping, pulse-quickening emotions. He was even a little disappointed by that. “What do we do about them?” This he spoke in a soft tone.

“Um,” Mikhail said. He had been forgotten. “W-we can just avoid them… r-right?” He was already glancing to the side, as if ready to take off as soon as he got the okay.

“Absolutely not,” Claud answered for Lucius and Chris, although neither seemed to agree with him. “The other two are still in here. There only seems to be a couple people, anyways.”

The voices became more prominent, and Lucius could make out the words, now. Something about dinner and… chicken? “A couple. You do know that there’s only four of us right now, right? And, I don’t know about you people, but I’m not exactly an experienced fighter. Read: I have no idea how to do anything other than run away.”

“Who’s there?!” They had been heard. Darn, Lucius had really thought that he lowered his voice enough.

None of them, however, said anything. It was too late to run, since the strangers would definitely search for them and eventually come across one of them. They settled in a waiting silence, standing still for the newcomers to see them.

The two groups spotted eachother long before faces could become distinguished, but the strangers didn't stop until they were standing a couple feet from Lucius. Two males and two women, all looking to be in their twenties, although the exact ages definitely varied.

The one in the front was a narrow-eyed man, thin but tall enough to look intimidating. He glanced over Lucius’s group, just as unsure as them as to how to act. “… Are you friendly?” The voice was surprisingly deep, and on the scratchy side.

Of course, Claud was the one to speak. “Are you?” Despite insisting not to run, he at least did not trust the strangers.

“Of course.” The other man, despite his words of reassurance, did not make any move to come closer nor to let down his guard. The people on his side remained the same as well. “What are you doing here?”

“Nothing,” Claud answered, obviously not mentioning the corpse from before. “We were just passing. If you don’t mind, we’ll be continuing on our way.” Just like the apparent-leader of the strangers, Claud’s stillness contrasted his words.

The narrow-eyed man turned to look at his group. A brown-haired woman nodded, and the man refocused his eyes on Claud. “Go ahead.” He stepped aside, the rest of his group following.

Was it really that easy? Lucius sent Claud a nervous gaze, but the older man didn’t even turn to look at him. Shuffling a bit closer to Mikhail, Lucius took a hesitant step. His eyes remained on the strangers since a bad feeling tugged at his mind.

Mikhail, the one closest to the end, walked a little faster. Clearly, he felt the same way as Lucius.

Chris twisted his head to look at Lucius and Mikhail, before his eyes widened. His mouth opened a little to shout something, but his body moved even faster and he pushed Lucius aside, sending him stumbling.

The narrow-eyed stranger had tried to club Lucius with a stick -where had he been holding it?-, the swing making a large swishing noise. Cursing when he realized that he had missed and lost his advantage, he took a step backwards and readied his stick, in case Lucius tried to retaliate. His companions also took stances, whether with similar branches, or just their bare fists. One short man even had an axe, somehow.

“Damn it,” Claud muttered, unhappy with this turn of events. It, while unsurprising, was something that he had hoped would be avoided for once. He didn’t even try to negotiate with the attackers- whatever they wanted, it would only be gained by taking it from them.

Lucius growled. "Why can't we encounter some random strangers who are actually normal people and don't try to beat the crap out of you?"