ATTENTION ALL WRITERS! C'MON!!!

[PioneerChicks]

(SAME DISCLAIMER)

Spoiler: P3 my off the top of head story

Aclaira looked longingly at the stable block down the end of the drive, she plucked up the courage and moved down the drive. She embraced the scent of horses that hugged her as she arrived. “Aclaira? Sweetie!” Alice, her instructor ran out of the barn to hug her. “Have you decided to ride again?” She asked excitingly, “Alice I fractured my spine, I can’t walk let alone ride” Aclaira fought back tears. (I will write more later)

This is so sad!

 

[Cutiechook15]

Okay, I'll give this a go. This is a snippet from my Robin Hood re-telling book that will probably never actually make it into the book, it's just to inspire me and give you a feel of the book. I changed a bit up so you would understand it better. It's pretty unedited, and not my best work, so bear with me.

Spoiler: Snippet

(From the view of a soldier sent to hunt down outlaws)

I had been lost for several hours, and the daylight was all spent. The trees looked over me, blocking out what little moonlight there would have been. I felt like their were eyes watching me; outlaws who would murder me at the first chance.

I had left the camp to...well...go, and had been lost ever since. I had no idea where I was, but I just wanted to get out of the dark forest and back into human civilization.

"Need some help?" A voice asked from behind me.

My sword was out in an instant and I spun around, nearly tripping from doing two the tasks at once.. A boy about my age standing behind me. He was dressed in ordinary brown clothes and holding a bow, but it wasn't loaded, and all his arrows were in the quiver in his back. His sword was in its sheath at his side.

An outlaw! I thought with fear. I pulled my own sword into a defensive posture.

"Woah, easy!" He exclaimed. "I'm not here to hurt you, just to help you get to the road."

I lowered my sword, but I didn't sheath it. "I don't need your help."

"Then would you like me to leave you to find your own way?" He asked as he walked into the forest to my left, indicating for me to follow.

I did, but hesitantly, with my sword still out. I wasn't very good with it anyway, in my hands it would only be as harmless as a big stick.

After a minute the outlaw boy stopped and glared into the bushes, "come out, Tom, I know you're there."

The undergrowth rustled and a younger boy pushed his way out.

Two! I thought. I'm outnumbered!

"Do you have to follow everybody you see leave?" The outlaw my age asked, exasperated.

"I wanted to see what you were doing!" The younger boy -Tom- defended himself.

"You know perfectly well what I'm doing." The former snapped. "I didn't make any effort to keep it a secret!"

"So what?" Tom asked defiantly.

"So I would rather not have pesky cousins following me around all day!" The other shot back. "You're endangering us all when you're here!"

"Well sorry!" Tom said sarcastically.

"I think it's time for us to go home anyway." A girl came into sight, following in Tom's tracks. "Come on, Tom, your mother will be worried. You didn't have permission to come." She seemed just as annoyed with Tom as the older outlaw.

"Goodbye Red, be careful going down the Sledding Slope. It's slick, even in summer." The first boy hugged the girl.

"I will." Red squeezed him back. "When will we see you again?"

"I'll come by as soon as I can, but Carl and Little John are injured, and it might be a while before I can leave."

Even I could tell that the brother looked worried, which was odd, because I had heard that the Outlaws of Sherwood were heartless.

"All right, Robin. Bye!" Red called as she pulled Tom away with her.

I looked at the older outlaw as he waved goodbye to the other two. If I had heard right, he was Robin Hood, the outlaw I was supposed to kill. But he wasn't as old as I had guessed he would be, and he didn't seem heartless.

"Wait, Red!" Robin Hood called. "What plant did Mother use to prevent infection? Was it burdock?"

Once again, I doubted my ears. Robin Hood had a sister?

Red paused to think. "No, it was yarrow. There's a good patch of it in the forest behind the mill."

Red left, pulling Tom behind her. Robin watched them leave before turning away.

"Come on!" He called to me cheerfully and I followed, confused.

Maybe the outlaws do care about each other after all. I thought wonderingly. Do they all have families? Are they really the murderers everyone says they are?

I could tell Robin Hood was tired, and so was I. I would have happily stopped for a break, but the outlaw didn't stop, and I didn't want to make him angry. We trudged on for almost an hour until I thought I could see lights up ahead. Sure enough, soon the trees started to thin.

When the first building -a small house for only a couple of people- was in sight Robin Hood stopped.

In the light from the house I saw something I hadn't noticed before; he had only one eye. Well, two eyes, but I could tell that only one was good. The other was dull and unfocused, and I doubted that it was of any use.

"This is as far as I can take you safely. Can you make it the rest of the way on your own?" Robin Hood asked.

I nodded slowly, then blurted; "why are you helping me? Aren't I your enemy?"

Robin Hood smiled a sad smile, as if he had seen much beyond his years. "My fight is not against soldiers, my enemy is their leader."

"But don't you murder innocent people?" As soon as I asked I regretted it.

He hissed something to himself, something along the lines of, "Darn you, Will!"

"I am no murderer," he said with determination, "and I try not to kill. But you forget that you fight for your job, while we are fighting for our lives. Do you have coins to pay for your lodging?"

When I shook my head he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small handful of coins.

"I wish you best of luck on your travels." He smiled at me.

"Thank you." I said, my voice just above a whisper. "Maybe someday I will pay you back."

Robin Hood shook his head. "There's no need. But I hope that if we ever meet again it will be as friends.

With that he turned and walked at a quick pace in the opposite direction, but I could hear him muttering over and over; "yarrow, yarrow, yarrow...."


(From the view of Red, Robin's sister)

As soon as we were out of earshot of the soldier I spoke.

"Tom, if anyone were to find out about us being related to Robin then they might try to hurt us, or worse. Or they might try to use is to force Robin to come and surrender to them, and that would mean her death and possibly ours to."

"Yes, yes, I get it; we have to keep it a secret." Tom said. "Is that why you didn't want to tell me? Because you thought I would give it away?"

I hesitated. "Yes, but it's hard to trust anybody now."

"Isn't it amazing, my cousin is Robin Hood, the cutthroat of Sherwood!"

"Not a cutthroat." I corrected him with a sigh, fighting to contain from yelling that Robin Hood was my sister, and how much better that was.

"Yes, but still... Wait, if you aren't cutthroats, then why does everybody say you are?"

"That was Will. He decided it would be a good joke, but even he didn't know what impact it would have. We can easily say it wasn't his funniest joke." Red said, slightly bitter.

"Oh." Tom said. They walked in silence for a minute before he asked, "hey, isn't Robin supposed to be a boy?"

"That's another secret we have to keep, at Robin's request."

"Oh." And a minute later he added, "that sort of ruins the coolness, don't ya think? The fact that Robin Hood's a girl?"

For the second time that day I turned on him. "So that's what you think? That is girls are more useless than the boys? Who was lost today, and still is? You. Who is foolish enough to trip over every stick on the path? You. Who can't lift a sword of shoot an arrow three feet? You!

"Was it not Robin, a girl, who survived the harsh winter of Sherwood and lives a life of constant danger? Where is your loyal band of outlaws who are ready to follow you to the death, I sure don't see them. Are they hiding in your precious little city?

"I don't know of anything boys can do that girls cannot. We can cut wood, start fires, hunt, climb trees, and fight! If you refuse to admit that then you can find your way home on your own." I spat out each word of my last sentence like poison.

Tom backed up a step, surprised at my outburst, but once I was finished he went back to his usual cockiness. "Okay, fine. But why did she do it?"

I sighed. "Long story." My fire was quenched, temporarily.

"We have time. Your house is still a ways away." Tome pestered.

I looked at him strangely. "Sometimes I wonder how lost you really are."

"We have time." He repeated impatiently, ignoring my comment.

"Fine. But you can't tell anybody. Ever."

"Tell me something new please," he said, a little rudely.

I sent him a hot glare but started the story. "You know how mistreated girls are. When a girl gets married, they say she belongs to the man. No matter what he does. He can hit and punch her all he wants, but because it's legal, she can't do anything about it.

"Nobody hire girls, because they are weak and useless, and because it would give people a bad impression of the boss. According to the public, all they are useful for is to stay at home and knit, sew, crochet, and all that boring stuff. And raise children. Lots of rowdy, crying children.

And strangely, most girls believe that nowadays. Brainwashed, I guess you could say. Robin and me are some of the only people who know otherwise.

Then Robin got it into her head to help the resistance. But because nobody thinks much of girls, she chose to disguise herself as a boy. It was, or is, easier that way."

Tom must have noticed her bitter tone in her last few sentences. "You don't agree with Robin's decision?"

Red hesitated, then said stiffly, "it doesn't matter what I think. What's done is done. And it will probably always be this way."

I love this so much!!! Good job!

 

[PioneerChicks]

I love this so much!!! Good job!

Thank you!

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

(SAME DISCLAIMER)

Spoiler: P3 my off the top of head story

Aclaira looked longingly at the stable block down the end of the drive, she plucked up the courage and moved down the drive. She embraced the scent of horses that hugged her as she arrived. “Aclaira? Sweetie!” Alice, her instructor ran out of the barn to hug her. “Have you decided to ride again?” She asked excitingly, “Alice I fractured my spine, I can’t walk let alone ride” Aclaira fought back tears. (I will write more later)

This is great! Really sad, though. One of my worst fears is never being able to ride!

 

[Cutiechook15]

Content Warning: A dead body
Sorry, this chapter is pretty slow. XD Keep in mind that this is unedited.

Spoiler: Chapter 5

As I headed to finish my second duty I had set for myself, my mind felt much more at ease. Camaryn was safe. At least, safer than she would have been before. Immediately after the lights had turned on, she had figured out how to morph into some sort of animal. Probably an insect of sorts. She had been the first to reach the door.

Knowing that she knew how to protect herself like that comforted me. I wasn’t sure why I cared, though. I barely even knew this girl, yet I was constantly focused on keeping her safe. I shrugged to myself. That couldn’t be a bad thing, could it?

I reached the body. In my hands, I held a white sheet from the supplies that had been found. I laid it carefully on the ground, and tried to figure out how to move her. I wasn’t completely comfortable with touching a dead body, but… She deserved respect. This girl, whoever she was, deserved more than a death like this. So, I got on my knees, preparing myself.

Grasping her ankles, I awkwardly dragged her halfway onto the sheet.

I froze, feeling a familiar burning in the base of my neck. It was like water, so hot that it was cold, was being poured right down my back.

I let go of the corpse.

The sensation stopped.

I blinked. What had that been? It… felt like…

The girl in the white room. When I had seen the girl, writhing in the throes of whatever poison was put on those darts, I had felt the same cold sensation. Maybe it had something to do with the darts… I gasped. Was I getting poisoned by skin contact? I yelped, falling backwards and scrambling away from the body.

I stared at her, wondering what I should do. I stood, walking in a circle around the body and analyzing my options. I could grab the part of her legs that was covered by the soft leggings. Or, I could pull her by her hai-- No, goodness no.

“Can I help?”

I leaped about three feet into the air, my heart thudding in my chest. You'd have thought that I wouldn’t be jumpy anymore after the day's previous events, but nooooo. I swung around to face the speaker, my fists ready punch, my feet ready to kick, and my head ready to butt.

It was just Mike, standing there now with his muscle shirt on. Nina must have given the boys their tops back. He wasn’t phased at all by my position, or at least he didn’t show it. He just raised an eyebrow.

“I...I was thinking of giving her a burial… of sorts.” I said hesitantly, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves.

He just nodded, going to her feet and grabbing her ankles.

“Wait, don’t do th--!” I cut myself off as he stared at me.

“Grab her arms,” he said.

I paused. “You don’t… feel anything weird?”

“No… Should I?” Mike asked, eyebrows knitting together in a perplexed expression.

I swallowed nervously. “No, sorry, I was thinking of.... Um, something else.”

I gingerly touched her hand.

Nothing.

“Just grab it,” he snapped, making me start a little on the inside. The words themselves were soft, but the intensity in which he spoke them scared me. I glanced at him reproachfully. Then, after mustering up some courage, I grabbed her wrists.

Nothing.

Hm, maybe it had just been the legs. Then why hadn’t he felt anything?

I shuddered as we set her down in the middle of the sheet, her dark, curly hair contrasting with the white fabric. Whatever those people did to me was not okay.

Flicking his thumb towards the door leading to the open hole, he gathered up the sheet in his other hand. “Over there.”

I nodded meekly, gathering my side in my hands. We carried the bundle and laid it beside the open door.

It seemed so heartless to just throw her into the abyss without some sort of eulogy or something. I shivered. “May you find rest and peace wherever you go.” Not very eloquent, but then again, I didn't do poetry.

Mike nodded appreciatively. Then, we swung her over the edge and watched as she fell.

Down, down, down. The sheets parted and fluttered away in the wind, and the body seemed to float into the sea of darkness. The scene was… Serene. Peaceful. Ironic, considering the way she had died.

I smiled faintly.

When I turned, the rest of our small group, excluding Lucas, Nox, and Mason, stood there, watching us. One of the girl’s eyes were squeezed shut, a tear sliding down her cheek.

“Let’s…” My voice wavered. “Go eat.” I waved them all towards the supply pile. Camaryn nodded to me, giving me an encouraging smile, then left with the other two girls, placing a comforting arm around the weeping one.

“It’ll be alright, Marie,” I heard her whisper. “We’ll get through this.”

I let out a slow breath. Why? Why would someone do this to us? Who would be so cruel? What kind of a person would let this happen to teenagers? Why take our memories away?

The strange thing about the whole memory wiping thing was that I could remember almost everything about the world in great detail. The color of trees in the fall. What babies looked like. I remembered that mountains were beautiful. I just couldn’t remember what civilization was like in our world. What books were out there. Who my family was… Or is... All memories of my past life were gone.

Anyone who would put people, let alone teens, in this situation could not be sane, if they were human at all.

I shuddered.

Nina walked away. “You guys had better get your lazy butts over to the supply pile and help out.”

Mike glared at her, but followed. I glanced one more time into the abyss, but the girl was gone.

Sighing, I jogged to the provisions, where Brickhead assigned me to sorting out the jumble of food, blankets and other miscellaneous items.

“Whoever put us here definitely plans on us staying here a while,” Nox said, folding the thick brown blankets and placing them neatly in a pile on the brown and rocky ground.

I nodded. There were enough necessities here to last us for over a month. I sighed tiredly, slumping to the ground in a criss-cross position as I continued sorting through the food.

Bags of soup over there. Jerky over there. Water over there. Dried fruit over there.

“Hey, Lucas, are we making camp here for the night, or do we need to keep moving?” Nox’s voice.

“We’re going to set up camp and get some rest, but we need to be ready for anything. Who knows what will be next? We’ll set people to watch at night.”

Nina smirked. “Good to know there are some brains in that Brickhead of yours.”

Lucas ignored her, moving to my left and getting to work on building a substantial fire with a flint, steel, and some wood found in the provision pile. while Vicky and Mason discussed the way they were going to make dinner for the night.

I smiled faintly. Even though I didn’t feel completely safe, it felt good not to be alone.

Soon the smell of the savory soup wafted across the rocky cavern. My stomach rumbled, though I felt as if I were too exhausted to eat. I dragged myself to the short line that was forming next to the steaming pot. Vicky quietly poured the soup into paper cups, handing them to us one by one.

I sat down in a criss-cross position with the others around the fire and stared into the warm cup that rested in my hand.

“Well. Today happened.” Mason said to me as he sat down beside me.

I glanced at him and gave him a tired smile.

His eyebrows furrowed in a concerned expression. “How are you doing?”

“Me?” I asked, startled. Why would he care? “Well, I’m confused. And horrified. And exhausted. And hungry. How about you?”

He grinned. “Pretty much same.”

We were silent for a few minutes as we sipped our soup and listened to the crackling of the fire. Others joined us, including Nox, Nina, and Cameron.

“How bout a game?” Mason suddenly broke the silence.

Nina raised an eyebrow. “You really think this is the time for a game?”

Mason shrugged. “If there’s any time for a game, it would be now. It would get us closer, and it would… lighten up the mood?”

I took a sip of my soup. It was vegetable, with little pieces of meat.

“The last thing I want to do is get close to any of you.” Nina spoke in normal tones.

I focused on my soup. It really was good.

“Why?” Mason asked, aghast. His face showed utter confusion, and it took a lot for me to keep my face straight.

“When you die, I don’t want it to affect me or my chances of surviving.” And with that, she stood and left.

I grimaced. I guessed getting Nina to like me was a lost cause as well. The image of the dead girl floating down the abyss popped into my mind, preventing me from caring.

Mason exhaled softly, clenching and unclenching his fists. “Well, that was…”

“Scary?” I suggested.

“I was going to say annoying, but yeah, maybe.”

I grinned. “Maybe? ‘When you die, I don’t want it to affect me or my chances of surviving.’ How is that not intense?”

I froze. Everyone around the fire stared at me like I had two heads. Wait, what had I done this time?

“You sounded just like her!” Mason guffawed suddenly. “That was incredible!”

Smiling uncertainly, I glanced back at Nina. She gazed at me with narrowed eyes, a frown forming on her lips.

“I didn’t mean to,” I stammered, wringing my hands. “It just kinda came out of me.”

“That was so cool!” Mason was grinning from ear to ear. Honestly, he was such a child. I tried not to smile, but failed. It was contagious. “Can you do my voice?”

“Um… Okay.” I took a deep breath, and a millisecond before I spoke, I felt my throat click faintly, and a completely different sound escaped my lips. “‘That was so cool! Can you do my voice?’”

Mason’s deep voice seemed to be coming from my lips. I shut my mouth, clearing my throat a couple of times. That must have been the part of my ability with the reconstructed larynx. I needed to reread my paper again sometime to memorize it so I wouldn’t be absolutely shocked when I used one of my test abilities.

More people began asking me to imitate their voice, and I obliged. It was nice to get attention, and I felt my confidence beginning to return.

For the next hour, we ate, talked, and laughed. Even Nina decided to suck it up and join us for the last few minutes. It was a good break from everything that was going on.

“All right, everyone,” Brickhead snapped. “The clock says 2200, time for bunking down.”

We turned towards him, most of us frowning. He swallowed, looking a bit uncomfortable. I smirked. He almost looked human with that expression.

His face hardened. “You have ten minutes to clean up. Toothbrushes and canteens are over there next to the food. Then gather back here where I will assign the watchlist. Now move!”

I was the first one up and in the line for the canteen. Lucas doled out only a bit for each of us to drink and rinse our mouths from the grainy Baking Soda. Even though the white substance tasted kind of gross, once I rinsed, my mouth felt fresher and cleaner than before. As I made my way back to the dying embers of the fire, I felt the exhaustion of everything just set in. My legs felt like jelly, and I had to consciously keep them from buckling.

I grabbed a blanket from the supply pile as I returned to the fire, and I sat down with my back against the wall of the cavern-like room. I searched for any more cameras that would indicate that we were being watched. If there were any, I couldn’t find them. I sighed, leaning my head back and closing my eyes.

This won’t last forever. I told myself. You’ll find the answers soon.

As I waited for the others to arrive, my mind began to drift and the noises around me subsided.

 

[Starburst]

Content Warning: A dead body
Sorry, this chapter is pretty slow. XD Keep in mind that this is unedited.

Spoiler: Chapter 5

As I headed to finish my second duty I had set for myself, my mind felt much more at ease. Camaryn was safe. At least, safer than she would have been before. Immediately after the lights had turned on, she had figured out how to morph into some sort of animal. Probably an insect of sorts. She had been the first to reach the door.

Knowing that she knew how to protect herself like that comforted me. I wasn’t sure why I cared, though. I barely even knew this girl, yet I was constantly focused on keeping her safe. I shrugged to myself. That couldn’t be a bad thing, could it?

I reached the body. In my hands, I held a white sheet from the supplies that had been found. I laid it carefully on the ground, and tried to figure out how to move her. I wasn’t completely comfortable with touching a dead body, but… She deserved respect. This girl, whoever she was, deserved more than a death like this. So, I got on my knees, preparing myself.

Grasping her ankles, I awkwardly dragged her halfway onto the sheet.

I froze, feeling a familiar burning in the base of my neck. It was like water, so hot that it was cold, was being poured right down my back.

I let go of the corpse.

The sensation stopped.

I blinked. What had that been? It… felt like…

The girl in the white room. When I had seen the girl, writhing in the throes of whatever poison was put on those darts, I had felt the same cold sensation. Maybe it had something to do with the darts… I gasped. Was I getting poisoned by skin contact? I yelped, falling backwards and scrambling away from the body.

I stared at her, wondering what I should do. I stood, walking in a circle around the body and analyzing my options. I could grab the part of her legs that was covered by the soft leggings. Or, I could pull her by her hai-- No, goodness no.

“Can I help?”

I leaped about three feet into the air, my heart thudding in my chest. You'd have thought that I wouldn’t be jumpy anymore after the day's previous events, but nooooo. I swung around to face the speaker, my fists ready punch, my feet ready to kick, and my head ready to butt.

It was just Mike, standing there now with his muscle shirt on. Nina must have given the boys their tops back. He wasn’t phased at all by my position, or at least he didn’t show it. He just raised an eyebrow.

“I...I was thinking of giving her a burial… of sorts.” I said hesitantly, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves.

He just nodded, going to her feet and grabbing her ankles.

“Wait, don’t do th--!” I cut myself off as he stared at me.

“Grab her arms,” he said.

I paused. “You don’t… feel anything weird?”

“No… Should I?” Mike asked, eyebrows knitting together in a perplexed expression.

I swallowed nervously. “No, sorry, I was thinking of.... Um, something else.”

I gingerly touched her hand.

Nothing.

“Just grab it,” he snapped, making me start a little on the inside. The words themselves were soft, but the intensity in which he spoke them scared me. I glanced at him reproachfully. Then, after mustering up some courage, I grabbed her wrists.

Nothing.

Hm, maybe it had just been the legs. Then why hadn’t he felt anything?

I shuddered as we set her down in the middle of the sheet, her dark, curly hair contrasting with the white fabric. Whatever those people did to me was not okay.

Flicking his thumb towards the door leading to the open hole, he gathered up the sheet in his other hand. “Over there.”

I nodded meekly, gathering my side in my hands. We carried the bundle and laid it beside the open door.

It seemed so heartless to just throw her into the abyss without some sort of eulogy or something. I shivered. “May you find rest and peace wherever you go.” Not very eloquent, but then again, I didn't do poetry.

Mike nodded appreciatively. Then, we swung her over the edge and watched as she fell.

Down, down, down. The sheets parted and fluttered away in the wind, and the body seemed to float into the sea of darkness. The scene was… Serene. Peaceful. Ironic, considering the way she had died.

I smiled faintly.

When I turned, the rest of our small group, excluding Lucas, Nox, and Mason, stood there, watching us. One of the girl’s eyes were squeezed shut, a tear sliding down her cheek.

“Let’s…” My voice wavered. “Go eat.” I waved them all towards the supply pile. Camaryn nodded to me, giving me an encouraging smile, then left with the other two girls, placing a comforting arm around the weeping one.

“It’ll be alright, Marie,” I heard her whisper. “We’ll get through this.”

I let out a slow breath. Why? Why would someone do this to us? Who would be so cruel? What kind of a person would let this happen to teenagers? Why take our memories away?

The strange thing about the whole memory wiping thing was that I could remember almost everything about the world in great detail. The color of trees in the fall. What babies looked like. I remembered that mountains were beautiful. I just couldn’t remember what civilization was like in our world. What books were out there. Who my family was… Or is... All memories of my past life were gone.

Anyone who would put people, let alone teens, in this situation could not be sane, if they were human at all.

I shuddered.

Nina walked away. “You guys had better get your lazy butts over to the supply pile and help out.”

Mike glared at her, but followed. I glanced one more time into the abyss, but the girl was gone.

Sighing, I jogged to the provisions, where Brickhead assigned me to sorting out the jumble of food, blankets and other miscellaneous items.

“Whoever put us here definitely plans on us staying here a while,” Nox said, folding the thick brown blankets and placing them neatly in a pile on the brown and rocky ground.

I nodded. There were enough necessities here to last us for over a month. I sighed tiredly, slumping to the ground in a criss-cross position as I continued sorting through the food.

Bags of soup over there. Jerky over there. Water over there. Dried fruit over there.

“Hey, Lucas, are we making camp here for the night, or do we need to keep moving?” Nox’s voice.

“We’re going to set up camp and get some rest, but we need to be ready for anything. Who knows what will be next? We’ll set people to watch at night.”

Nina smirked. “Good to know there are some brains in that Brickhead of yours.”

Lucas ignored her, moving to my left and getting to work on building a substantial fire with a flint, steel, and some wood found in the provision pile. while Vicky and Mason discussed the way they were going to make dinner for the night.

I smiled faintly. Even though I didn’t feel completely safe, it felt good not to be alone.

Soon the smell of the savory soup wafted across the rocky cavern. My stomach rumbled, though I felt as if I were too exhausted to eat. I dragged myself to the short line that was forming next to the steaming pot. Vicky quietly poured the soup into paper cups, handing them to us one by one.

I sat down in a criss-cross position with the others around the fire and stared into the warm cup that rested in my hand.

“Well. Today happened.” Mason said to me as he sat down beside me.

I glanced at him and gave him a tired smile.

His eyebrows furrowed in a concerned expression. “How are you doing?”

“Me?” I asked, startled. Why would he care? “Well, I’m confused. And horrified. And exhausted. And hungry. How about you?”

He grinned. “Pretty much same.”

We were silent for a few minutes as we sipped our soup and listened to the crackling of the fire. Others joined us, including Nox, Nina, and Cameron.

“How bout a game?” Mason suddenly broke the silence.

Nina raised an eyebrow. “You really think this is the time for a game?”

Mason shrugged. “If there’s any time for a game, it would be now. It would get us closer, and it would… lighten up the mood?”

I took a sip of my soup. It was vegetable, with little pieces of meat.

“The last thing I want to do is get close to any of you.” Nina spoke in normal tones.

I focused on my soup. It really was good.

“Why?” Mason asked, aghast. His face showed utter confusion, and it took a lot for me to keep my face straight.

“When you die, I don’t want it to affect me or my chances of surviving.” And with that, she stood and left.

I grimaced. I guessed getting Nina to like me was a lost cause as well. The image of the dead girl floating down the abyss popped into my mind, preventing me from caring.

Mason exhaled softly, clenching and unclenching his fists. “Well, that was…”

“Scary?” I suggested.

“I was going to say annoying, but yeah, maybe.”

I grinned. “Maybe? ‘When you die, I don’t want it to affect me or my chances of surviving.’ How is that not intense?”

I froze. Everyone around the fire stared at me like I had two heads. Wait, what had I done this time?

“You sounded just like her!” Mason guffawed suddenly. “That was incredible!”

Smiling uncertainly, I glanced back at Nina. She gazed at me with narrowed eyes, a frown forming on her lips.

“I didn’t mean to,” I stammered, wringing my hands. “It just kinda came out of me.”

“That was so cool!” Mason was grinning from ear to ear. Honestly, he was such a child. I tried not to smile, but failed. It was contagious. “Can you do my voice?”

“Um… Okay.” I took a deep breath, and a millisecond before I spoke, I felt my throat click faintly, and a completely different sound escaped my lips. “‘That was so cool! Can you do my voice?’”

Mason’s deep voice seemed to be coming from my lips. I shut my mouth, clearing my throat a couple of times. That must have been the part of my ability with the reconstructed larynx. I needed to reread my paper again sometime to memorize it so I wouldn’t be absolutely shocked when I used one of my test abilities.

More people began asking me to imitate their voice, and I obliged. It was nice to get attention, and I felt my confidence beginning to return.

For the next hour, we ate, talked, and laughed. Even Nina decided to suck it up and join us for the last few minutes. It was a good break from everything that was going on.

“All right, everyone,” Brickhead snapped. “The clock says 2200, time for bunking down.”

We turned towards him, most of us frowning. He swallowed, looking a bit uncomfortable. I smirked. He almost looked human with that expression.

His face hardened. “You have ten minutes to clean up. Toothbrushes and canteens are over there next to the food. Then gather back here where I will assign the watchlist. Now move!”

I was the first one up and in the line for the canteen. Lucas doled out only a bit for each of us to drink and rinse our mouths from the grainy Baking Soda. Even though the white substance tasted kind of gross, once I rinsed, my mouth felt fresher and cleaner than before. As I made my way back to the dying embers of the fire, I felt the exhaustion of everything just set in. My legs felt like jelly, and I had to consciously keep them from buckling.

I grabbed a blanket from the supply pile as I returned to the fire, and I sat down with my back against the wall of the cavern-like room. I searched for any more cameras that would indicate that we were being watched. If there were any, I couldn’t find them. I sighed, leaning my head back and closing my eyes.

This won’t last forever. I told myself. You’ll find the answers soon.

As I waited for the others to arrive, my mind began to drift and the noises around me subsided.

That is amazing! Really, really well written too!

 

[PioneerChicks]

Content Warning: A dead body
Sorry, this chapter is pretty slow. XD Keep in mind that this is unedited.

Spoiler: Chapter 5

As I headed to finish my second duty I had set for myself, my mind felt much more at ease. Camaryn was safe. At least, safer than she would have been before. Immediately after the lights had turned on, she had figured out how to morph into some sort of animal. Probably an insect of sorts. She had been the first to reach the door.

Knowing that she knew how to protect herself like that comforted me. I wasn’t sure why I cared, though. I barely even knew this girl, yet I was constantly focused on keeping her safe. I shrugged to myself. That couldn’t be a bad thing, could it?

I reached the body. In my hands, I held a white sheet from the supplies that had been found. I laid it carefully on the ground, and tried to figure out how to move her. I wasn’t completely comfortable with touching a dead body, but… She deserved respect. This girl, whoever she was, deserved more than a death like this. So, I got on my knees, preparing myself.

Grasping her ankles, I awkwardly dragged her halfway onto the sheet.

I froze, feeling a familiar burning in the base of my neck. It was like water, so hot that it was cold, was being poured right down my back.

I let go of the corpse.

The sensation stopped.

I blinked. What had that been? It… felt like…

The girl in the white room. When I had seen the girl, writhing in the throes of whatever poison was put on those darts, I had felt the same cold sensation. Maybe it had something to do with the darts… I gasped. Was I getting poisoned by skin contact? I yelped, falling backwards and scrambling away from the body.

I stared at her, wondering what I should do. I stood, walking in a circle around the body and analyzing my options. I could grab the part of her legs that was covered by the soft leggings. Or, I could pull her by her hai-- No, goodness no.

“Can I help?”

I leaped about three feet into the air, my heart thudding in my chest. You'd have thought that I wouldn’t be jumpy anymore after the day's previous events, but nooooo. I swung around to face the speaker, my fists ready punch, my feet ready to kick, and my head ready to butt.

It was just Mike, standing there now with his muscle shirt on. Nina must have given the boys their tops back. He wasn’t phased at all by my position, or at least he didn’t show it. He just raised an eyebrow.

“I...I was thinking of giving her a burial… of sorts.” I said hesitantly, taking a deep breath to calm my nerves.

He just nodded, going to her feet and grabbing her ankles.

“Wait, don’t do th--!” I cut myself off as he stared at me.

“Grab her arms,” he said.

I paused. “You don’t… feel anything weird?”

“No… Should I?” Mike asked, eyebrows knitting together in a perplexed expression.

I swallowed nervously. “No, sorry, I was thinking of.... Um, something else.”

I gingerly touched her hand.

Nothing.

“Just grab it,” he snapped, making me start a little on the inside. The words themselves were soft, but the intensity in which he spoke them scared me. I glanced at him reproachfully. Then, after mustering up some courage, I grabbed her wrists.

Nothing.

Hm, maybe it had just been the legs. Then why hadn’t he felt anything?

I shuddered as we set her down in the middle of the sheet, her dark, curly hair contrasting with the white fabric. Whatever those people did to me was not okay.

Flicking his thumb towards the door leading to the open hole, he gathered up the sheet in his other hand. “Over there.”

I nodded meekly, gathering my side in my hands. We carried the bundle and laid it beside the open door.

It seemed so heartless to just throw her into the abyss without some sort of eulogy or something. I shivered. “May you find rest and peace wherever you go.” Not very eloquent, but then again, I didn't do poetry.

Mike nodded appreciatively. Then, we swung her over the edge and watched as she fell.

Down, down, down. The sheets parted and fluttered away in the wind, and the body seemed to float into the sea of darkness. The scene was… Serene. Peaceful. Ironic, considering the way she had died.

I smiled faintly.

When I turned, the rest of our small group, excluding Lucas, Nox, and Mason, stood there, watching us. One of the girl’s eyes were squeezed shut, a tear sliding down her cheek.

“Let’s…” My voice wavered. “Go eat.” I waved them all towards the supply pile. Camaryn nodded to me, giving me an encouraging smile, then left with the other two girls, placing a comforting arm around the weeping one.

“It’ll be alright, Marie,” I heard her whisper. “We’ll get through this.”

I let out a slow breath. Why? Why would someone do this to us? Who would be so cruel? What kind of a person would let this happen to teenagers? Why take our memories away?

The strange thing about the whole memory wiping thing was that I could remember almost everything about the world in great detail. The color of trees in the fall. What babies looked like. I remembered that mountains were beautiful. I just couldn’t remember what civilization was like in our world. What books were out there. Who my family was… Or is... All memories of my past life were gone.

Anyone who would put people, let alone teens, in this situation could not be sane, if they were human at all.

I shuddered.

Nina walked away. “You guys had better get your lazy butts over to the supply pile and help out.”

Mike glared at her, but followed. I glanced one more time into the abyss, but the girl was gone.

Sighing, I jogged to the provisions, where Brickhead assigned me to sorting out the jumble of food, blankets and other miscellaneous items.

“Whoever put us here definitely plans on us staying here a while,” Nox said, folding the thick brown blankets and placing them neatly in a pile on the brown and rocky ground.

I nodded. There were enough necessities here to last us for over a month. I sighed tiredly, slumping to the ground in a criss-cross position as I continued sorting through the food.

Bags of soup over there. Jerky over there. Water over there. Dried fruit over there.

“Hey, Lucas, are we making camp here for the night, or do we need to keep moving?” Nox’s voice.

“We’re going to set up camp and get some rest, but we need to be ready for anything. Who knows what will be next? We’ll set people to watch at night.”

Nina smirked. “Good to know there are some brains in that Brickhead of yours.”

Lucas ignored her, moving to my left and getting to work on building a substantial fire with a flint, steel, and some wood found in the provision pile. while Vicky and Mason discussed the way they were going to make dinner for the night.

I smiled faintly. Even though I didn’t feel completely safe, it felt good not to be alone.

Soon the smell of the savory soup wafted across the rocky cavern. My stomach rumbled, though I felt as if I were too exhausted to eat. I dragged myself to the short line that was forming next to the steaming pot. Vicky quietly poured the soup into paper cups, handing them to us one by one.

I sat down in a criss-cross position with the others around the fire and stared into the warm cup that rested in my hand.

“Well. Today happened.” Mason said to me as he sat down beside me.

I glanced at him and gave him a tired smile.

His eyebrows furrowed in a concerned expression. “How are you doing?”

“Me?” I asked, startled. Why would he care? “Well, I’m confused. And horrified. And exhausted. And hungry. How about you?”

He grinned. “Pretty much same.”

We were silent for a few minutes as we sipped our soup and listened to the crackling of the fire. Others joined us, including Nox, Nina, and Cameron.

“How bout a game?” Mason suddenly broke the silence.

Nina raised an eyebrow. “You really think this is the time for a game?”

Mason shrugged. “If there’s any time for a game, it would be now. It would get us closer, and it would… lighten up the mood?”

I took a sip of my soup. It was vegetable, with little pieces of meat.

“The last thing I want to do is get close to any of you.” Nina spoke in normal tones.

I focused on my soup. It really was good.

“Why?” Mason asked, aghast. His face showed utter confusion, and it took a lot for me to keep my face straight.

“When you die, I don’t want it to affect me or my chances of surviving.” And with that, she stood and left.

I grimaced. I guessed getting Nina to like me was a lost cause as well. The image of the dead girl floating down the abyss popped into my mind, preventing me from caring.

Mason exhaled softly, clenching and unclenching his fists. “Well, that was…”

“Scary?” I suggested.

“I was going to say annoying, but yeah, maybe.”

I grinned. “Maybe? ‘When you die, I don’t want it to affect me or my chances of surviving.’ How is that not intense?”

I froze. Everyone around the fire stared at me like I had two heads. Wait, what had I done this time?

“You sounded just like her!” Mason guffawed suddenly. “That was incredible!”

Smiling uncertainly, I glanced back at Nina. She gazed at me with narrowed eyes, a frown forming on her lips.

“I didn’t mean to,” I stammered, wringing my hands. “It just kinda came out of me.”

“That was so cool!” Mason was grinning from ear to ear. Honestly, he was such a child. I tried not to smile, but failed. It was contagious. “Can you do my voice?”

“Um… Okay.” I took a deep breath, and a millisecond before I spoke, I felt my throat click faintly, and a completely different sound escaped my lips. “‘That was so cool! Can you do my voice?’”

Mason’s deep voice seemed to be coming from my lips. I shut my mouth, clearing my throat a couple of times. That must have been the part of my ability with the reconstructed larynx. I needed to reread my paper again sometime to memorize it so I wouldn’t be absolutely shocked when I used one of my test abilities.

More people began asking me to imitate their voice, and I obliged. It was nice to get attention, and I felt my confidence beginning to return.

For the next hour, we ate, talked, and laughed. Even Nina decided to suck it up and join us for the last few minutes. It was a good break from everything that was going on.

“All right, everyone,” Brickhead snapped. “The clock says 2200, time for bunking down.”

We turned towards him, most of us frowning. He swallowed, looking a bit uncomfortable. I smirked. He almost looked human with that expression.

His face hardened. “You have ten minutes to clean up. Toothbrushes and canteens are over there next to the food. Then gather back here where I will assign the watchlist. Now move!”

I was the first one up and in the line for the canteen. Lucas doled out only a bit for each of us to drink and rinse our mouths from the grainy Baking Soda. Even though the white substance tasted kind of gross, once I rinsed, my mouth felt fresher and cleaner than before. As I made my way back to the dying embers of the fire, I felt the exhaustion of everything just set in. My legs felt like jelly, and I had to consciously keep them from buckling.

I grabbed a blanket from the supply pile as I returned to the fire, and I sat down with my back against the wall of the cavern-like room. I searched for any more cameras that would indicate that we were being watched. If there were any, I couldn’t find them. I sighed, leaning my head back and closing my eyes.

This won’t last forever. I told myself. You’ll find the answers soon.

As I waited for the others to arrive, my mind began to drift and the noises around me subsided.

Epic!

 

[Cutiechook15]

Are y'all shipping anyone yet? Lol

 

[Butterscotchbitesfinger]

This is great! Really sad, though. One of my worst fears is never being able to ride!

Aww thanks. Yeah it’d be even worse if you were stuck in a wheelchair like she is

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

ajdkakdjakdh it's very short but I have a headache so theres my excuse
there may be more
who knows
if anyone wants it

Spoiler: Lucifer & Alev

A L E V



The worst part of falling in love, was when you had to accept the truth. It was when you had to finally walk away first, when you finally had to look away. When you had to accept it wasn't going to work.
Thirteen years he had known Lucifer.
And he spent ten of those years wishing, hoping, harboring silent feelings. And everytime he had thought about saying something, something happened to stop him from doing so.
Lucifer had saved him. He had saved him from mental and physical abuse caused by his parents, saved him from his own self-hatred, and accepted him when Alev finally accepted that he was a man trapped in a women's body. Lucifer had never cared, he was always there. He was sometimes emotionally closed off, sure, but he listened, and never judged him. He, unlike every other person he had trusted, had never left.
That was all Alev thought he needed. It seemed he was wrong.
Oh, how wrong he was. But how foolish he was to think he would ever get more. Lucifer was a prince. The Prince of Hell, the son of the Devil himself, nonetheless. And Alev was a mortal. A pheasant. A sorry, pathetic excuse for a being, with limited time, with a fragile soul and a cracking heart.
He was cold. Not just outside, but inside, too. Sad and cold, a poor sentence in a writer's mind, but no others words could be used to describe how he felt.


L U C I F E R


Lucifer paced wildly. He could let Alev go. Abandon a friendship of thirteen years. His only true friend. And he could vanish to Hell in a few weeks, and claim his rightful throne.
Or he could disown his crown.
Chose, chose, chose...My legacy or Alev? My pride or everything I've ever wanted?
It was inner turmoil, his mind racing, his heart pounding against his chest. It was such a silly thing to worry about, you might think. But he was choosing to either abandon Alev or face the violent wraith of his father. And his father would go to any lengths to keep Lucifer in Hell.
He couldn't just leave Alev.
It would go against everything he had ever worked for.
It would hurt Alev.
And that alone was enough for him to turn, bolting in the direction Alev had vanished. It was probably suspicious, a dark haired, six foot two man running across a field in the middle of the night.
Not that it bothered him.
Alev's silhouette was visible, and Lucifer skidded to a halt, nearly slipping on the wet grass. He grabbed Alev's arm, turning him around probably too harshly, but he could care less. The moons light and the passing cars headlights was just enough light to illuminate Alev's face, light catching on the glittering tears on his cheekbones.
"Don't cry." He hardly dared to speak, his voice falling below a whisper, if that was possible. A pale hand came up, resting on the side of Alev's face, brushing the tears away.
Alev's lips parted, his breath hitching. He stared at Lucifer with widened eyes, not daring to move. "Don't, Luce." He murmured after a few moments of silence, pulling away from him.
A pang of fear shot through Lucifer's chest when Alev turned, grasping his arm tightly pulling him closer, a breathy, "no," escaping his lips. What he wanted to do was impulsive.
It was stupid. It was something he really shouldn't do. He was endangering not only himself but Alev as well.
But his mind was blank, pushing away those thoughts. He gently pulled his face toward him, silencing the retort on Alev's lips by capturing them in his own, his grip on his arm refusing to loosen.