Lair of Stories and Jewels - Writing Exercises

Only written pieces that deal with RPs and/or collabs will be posted here. If you want to read any of my other stuff, then visit my other two threads on this site: my fanfiction thread and my original works thread.

Also, critiques are welcome. My writing is not perfect, and I know it. So please, if you have something to say, then say it.

Tahira comes from the Hell Angels RP on ASN.

Tahira was abused during her time on Earth, so this does deal with child abuse. It's based on the song Alyssa Lies by Jason Michael Carroll.




Melissa raced across the dying lawn, confusion in her eyes. She jumped up onto the wooden porch, not bothering to take the steps, and placed her clean little hands on the brass handle. She froze then, as uncertainty raced through her entire body. Did she really want to know? The young girl bit her lip and slowly twisted the handle. The door swung open and she slipped inside. Yes, she did want to know. Very much.

"How was school?" her father asked her as she flung her Dragontales backpack under the coat rack. Melissa didn't answer. Instead she slowly turned around to face her dad.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her, his concern apparent in his voice. His pen froze in midair over the documents he was in the process of filling out.

Melissa few a deep breath and slowly walked over to the small, wooden table. She came to a halt next to her father's chair. Then she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.

"Daddy," she said softly. "Tahira lies."

Her father fought hard to hide his reaction, but she could tell that he wasn't grasping the seriousness of this. "You're new friend? The one you met on the playground?" he asked and, when she nodded, he continued on. "You can tell me."

"Tahira lies," Melissa repeated. "She lies... in the classroom. She lies... everyday at school. Tahira lies... to the teacher." A tear trickled down her cheek. "As she tries to cover up her bruise."

Her father's eyes widened as she spoke and, when she had finished, he didn't move. The two of them stood there, in silence, for several minutes. Then he pulled her close to him and patted her a few times on the back. "Don't worry," he whispered in her ear. "Everything will be fine."

He then released her and gently pushed her in the direction of her room. "Go and... play with your toys. Daddy's a busy man right now."

Melissa slowly nodded and wiped her tears away on her shirt sleeve. "Okay," she whispered back and headed for her room.



Melissa blew a kiss to her father as he stepped out of the room later that night. She then slid out of bed and knelt down. She folded her arms, bowed her head, and began to pray.

"God bless my mom and my dad," she said softly, reverently. "And my new friend, Tahira. Oh, I know she needs you bad." A fresh tear made its way down her cheek. "'Cause Tahira lies... in the classroom. Tahira lies... everyday at school. Tahira lies... to the teacher... as she tries to cover up her bruise. Please help her. If you do, I'll be forever and ever grateful. Goodnight, God. Amen."

Her father stood frozen outside of her room as she climbed back into her bed. He felt tempted to go in and comfort her, but he wasn't sure exactly what to say. So, instead, he turned and headed off to bed.

But it was officially the worst night of sleep for him in years. He couldn't get his daughters words out of his head. Somewhere out there... there was a little girl his daughter's age, who was being hurt. And his own daughter was worried sick about this other girl. He had to find a way to calm Melissa's fears. But there was only thing that he could think of that would do just that. And that was to get Tahira out of the situation she was in. But it would have to wait until the weekend was over. Yeah... He would deal with this whole thing on Monday. It could wait that long.



Melissa's father drove her to school that Monday, instead of having her ride the bus. But, by then, it was too late. Melissa glanced about her at all of the students and teachers who were milling about the entrance to the school. She glanced back at her dad.

"Why does everyone look so sad?" she asked. "Why are they crying? What's going on?" She looked back at everyone, scanning them. "Where's Tahira?" She's probably sad too. I need to comfort her." Melissa moved to open the door, but then, noticing how silent things had become, she looked back at her dad. Tears were running down his cheeks as well.

"What's wrong...?" Melissa whispered, feeling her eyes fill with tears also. "Where's Tahira?"

"Tahira... won't be at school today," her father whispered, a lump in his throat.

"Why?" Melissa asked. "Where is she? What happened?"

Her father cleared his throat and then continued on. "'Cause she doesn't lie... in the classroom. She doesn't lie... any more at school. Tahira lies... with Jesus..., because there's nothing anyone would do. Tahira lies..." Tears filled his eyes at his daughter's next word and only word.

"Why?"

This second story is based on The Unwanted RP, and just expands a bit of my character's, Thomas', past. It was inspired by something Fire Lord's character, Jason, said, which is quoted below.

Quote :

"You Unwanted claim to protect the innocent, to stand up for everyone. If you spent one day in my shoes you were think just as I do. The ones I protect tell me more than they do you. If you could hear them! Jason, why do they pick on me? Jason, why can't they just accept me for who I am?! Jason, why can't I just be like everybody else!?"

"What a loser!"

"Why don't you just go back where you came from, freak!"

"Or did you mommy take one look at your face and commit suicide?"

The large group of boys broke out into laughter and several high-fived one another. The young boy that they were teasing simply hung his head and stared at the baseball that laid beside him—the baseball that he had been supposed to catch.

"I'm sorry," the boy, Thomas, whispered.

"You're always sorry, since the day you came here!"

The young boy visibly wilted at that, and tears came to his eyes. But still he just sat there, listening to the others' demeaning remarks. He knew from experience that, if he tried to leave, they would just beat him up. But... he knew that it would come down to that anyways. It always did.

Then it started. They got tired of just slinging words and started on something new. A sharp stab of pain in his side. A reeling blow to the head. A kick to his back—and the wings hidden underneath his clothing. A punch to the jaw. Blow after blow. Pain after pain. And nobody did anything about it.



Thomas lay on his stomach, with his dragonic wings spread out over both him and the bed. His torso was bare, so it was easy to see how the dark blue scales of his wings melted into his skin. The bed sheet was tangled around the lower portion of his body, successfully hiding it from view. Bandages covered his slender frame, as did bruises and a few scars.

"Why me?" he whispered "Why is it always me? Just because I'm different..." His left eye watered and a tear trickled down from it. But his right eye stayed dry. That was another thing that made him different from everyone else—his eyes. The one that cried was a deep blue, while the other was a golden yellow.

"But that's exactly why," the principal said as he stepped into the room. "You're different. Too different."

The young boy turned his head a little, so that he could see the old man clearly. "But why?! Why can't they just accept me for who and what I am?! Why can't you accept me...?" He bit his lip with his sharpened teeth, but didn't puncture the skin.

"When I allowed you to come to this school, I thought that you were just a normal troublemaker. But... you're obviously something more. And I don't want any monsters wandering about in MY school."

Thomas flinched and turned his head away. "I don't want to be different," he whispered. "I never asked to be... I just am!" After untangling his legs, he slid out of the bed and stumbled towards the principal. Tears were flowing freely from his left eye at this point, but still his right remained dry. "Why?!"

"Because you are a freak," the principal said, even as he backed away. "And you will never belong. No matter where you go, no matter where you run, there will always be others who will hate you for what you are."

Thomas let out a loud sob and then fled the nurse's office. His wings unfolded themselves and he threw himself out of the first window he could find. The he was airborne, with fresh wounds covering his body.

"Unwanted," he whispered as he flew. "I will always be unwanted..."

---

I have since decided that my writing of the principal just isn't very believable. He comes on too harsh too fast. So, whenever I get the free time, I'm going to go back and fix this story. Thus, expect a new version of this some time in the near future.

I am going to get back to this story eventually... Probably after I'm finished with my novel. Anyways, here is the first chapter of Saltwater, which is about Thomas after The Unwanted RP ends.




He flew away without so much as a backwards glance, wanting to leave it all behind. So many memories... So much pain... So much had been lost... And so little had been gained...

Thomas pulled the still body of Alice closer to him, not wanting to run the risk of dropping her while they were so high up. The girl's hair and clothing were soaked with saltwater, which was starting to freeze over because of their high altitude. But Thomas didn't seem to be affected at all by the cold, even though his torso was bare. No, he was too filled with grief and hatred at the moment to care, much less notice.

"I will bring you back, Alice," he whispered and gave her cold forehead a gentle kiss. "I promise. I will find a way to wake you."

Again he thought of the falls. He could picture them so clearly in his mind, even though he had never been there before. They were so magnificent, and so untouched. If he could just get Alice there..., then everything would be all right.

But he had to get there first—wherever there was. He flapped harder, increasing his speed. The sooner he reached his destination, the sooner he could help Alice. But if he took too long..., then it might be too late to bring her back.
No, he wouldn't think of that. It wasn't an acceptable outcome. If she... He shook his head, telling himself once again not to think about it. But then what could he think of?

Fuegar? No... His death hurt too, for the demon had been his only friend.

Faith? No... Thinking of her just angered him even more.

Tobi? No... She could very well be dead, for all he knew.

Jason? Jason... That boy was the entire reason that so many had died. He was the reason that Fuegar was gone. He was the reason that Alice was gone. No...

Thomas shook his head once more. Jason was not the way to go either. Maybe... His past? But... his past wasn't exactly the happiest thing ever. He had never fit in. He had always been considered different from everyone and, because he was different, he wasn't as good. But he had told himself not to go there, so he instantly shut down that portion of his mind. And then, he shut it all down. If he couldn't think, he couldn't feel. And if he couldn't feel, then it wouldn't hurt. And if it didn't hurt...

Emotionless eyes scanned over Alice's beautiful face, but they saw no beauty. What was beauty without life? What was beauty without love?


The large, but waning, moon stared up at him from the surface of the pond. Ripple after ripple washed across the moon, distorting the image. But everything was distorted anymore.

Thomas touched down on the sandy beach and folded his wings in against his body. Alice still lay in his arms. She was cold to the touch, but so was he after twenty straight hours of flying.

The teen stepped into the cool body of water, destroying the moon's image with just that one action—just as his life was destroyed with a single action. Then he turned to face the roaring falls and let the mask completely slip away. Anger. Hurt. Despair. Confusion. Misery. Grief. Agony. Regret. Fear. Hatred. He felt it all, and it showed. And it hurt—it hurt more than anything he had ever experienced before.

"Come back to me," Thomas whispered and nuzzled her tenderly, wistfully. His lips pressed against her forehead and, in the exact instant that they connected, two fat tears rolled down his cheeks and hit her cheeks. "Come back..."

He stood that way, with his head down low and close to hers, for several minutes. Nothing moved, aside from the water cascading down the side of the cliff. Nothing made a sound, except for the thundering of the falls. Nothing was imperfect, except for Thomas' own soul.

I cried while writing this, so you have been warned...



Thomas raised his head and stared up at the shimmering falls. A fine mist drifted down from above, creating rainbows as it fell. The rainbows appeared almost magical to his grief-stricken gaze, and so it was to the mist that he turned.

His steps were slow and measured as he walked, and his grip on Alice tightened. She was so fragile. If he dropped her, she would break. Until she woke back up, that is. Then her strength was stronger than his own. She would be able to survive without him. He couldn't survive without her.

The mist fell on them both now, drenching them to the very bone. But the coldness of the water was nothing compared to the icy numbness of his heart. Nothing could compare to that. Nothing.

The falls were nearly upon them now, but still he continued forward. Their thundering resounded in his mind again and again, until it reached the point where all sound seemed to just fade away, and even the roar of thunder diminished. Left alone with his thoughts and a sleeping girl in his arms, he had never felt so alone.

His wings snapped open and then folded back up over his head, shielding both himself and Alice from the intense pressure of the falling water. Then he stepped into the falls. An intense pain met him there as his wings were torn from his body, or that's what it felt like was happening. His knees shook under the intense strain. But they didn't buckle; he didn't fall. He just kept putting one foot in front of the other. He had a mission, and nothing was going to stop him from completing it.

The falls surrounded them on all sides now, but he could no longer hear its roars. He could no longer feel anything but excruciating pain. But he could still see Alice's drenched face, and that was all he needed to see in order to continue.

The pain diminished then, as did the icy bullets that had been peppering his body. It was only then that he allowed himself to look away from his love's face and to peek out from between his wings. What met his tired gaze was nothing more than a thick mist. The thundering falls were behind him now. He folded his wings up, not even wincing at the fresh wave of pain that such an action brought with it, and continued to place one foot after the other. His gaze dropped back down to Alice's face and he nuzzled her tenderly. It wouldn't be much longer now.

A wall of solid rock materialized before him, but he didn't notice it until his head smacked against it. He paused in his tracks and tilted his head back. His eyes, as dull with grief as they were, were sharp enough to detect the slight crevice above. He launched himself up into the air, howling in pain at the act, and pumped himself up once, twice. The crevice widened into a cave as his perception of it changed. The opening was nothing more than a thin gash in the otherwise solid rock wall, but yet he felt like it was the right place to go.

He stared at the narrow slit, calculating distances and such in his mind. It was going to be a tight squeeze, getting the two of them in at once. He shifted Alice around so that she was draped over his front with her head leaning against his shoulder, and then threw himself forward.

He slid through the narrow opening with only inches to spare on either side. The little light that there had been disappeared, leaving him in darkness. But his eyes adjusted quickly, and he straightened himself out, both sensing and seeing that the cave widened out.

His bare feet touch the cool stone floor, and his wings folded back up with another grimace of pain. He shifted Alice around, so that she was back in his arms once more, and then he started forward.

The cave wound downwards. There was no noise except for the occasional dripping of water. Thomas made not a sound as he moved, and Alice was in no position to create any noise of her own—not at the moment, at least. He wasn't sure how long he walked before he came to the crystal cavern; time meant nothing to him. But he did know that it was the end of his journey.

Thomas came to a halt at the entrance of the cavern. His grief-stricken gaze swept over the rainbow of crystals that made up the walls, ceiling, and floor of this place, but he saw no beauty. What he did see was the perfect place resting for Alice.

He had accepted it by now; she wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon. He didn't know how to awaken her, and it would take time for him to learn. So he needed somewhere safe for her to stay, somewhere like this.

He walked into the room, and headed directly for the center. Once he reached his destination, he paused and stared down at his love's face. His own face was void of all emotion—all but a single tear. The tear trickled down his face, and then splashed down onto hers.

Pain flickered across his face as he watched the tear carve a path down her cheek. "Alice..." The voice was hoarse, torn with emotion. "I love you, but..." His voice broke and he had to swallow before he could continue. "I can't stay here... And I can't take you with me..., not right now. When I find a way... to fix things..., I'll come back. I promise." He cleared his throat again, even as his face twisted painfully. "You'll be safe... Safe here..."

Thomas lowered her to the crystal floor, treating her as if she was a porcelain doll. He pressed his lips to her forehead, and then moved them down to her cold lip. When finally pulled away from her, it felt as if what was left of his heart had just been torn out, and cut asunder.

"I love you..."

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and then placed a single finger in the center of her forehead. He murmured a few words of the Ancient Language—the language dragons spoke—and there was a brilliant flash of blue light. But he didn't even blink. The light faded away, leaving a transparent sapphire casket behind. Alice's sleeping form lay within the casket—a form that was perfect, and would never change.

He stared at her beautiful face for a few moments, and then his eyes dropped down to the wound that had ended her life. But there was nothing—no pain, no broken images, no emotion. The fear toxin had finally run its course—and he had received an awful lot of that stuff. But now that it was gone, and she was resting, he felt nothing at all. He was numb.

"I'll be back," he promised Alice. "Then we'll leave—together."

He left the room then, without looking back—he knew better than that. That would only bring the pain back.

The trek to the entrance of the cave seemed much longer than it had been before, but that was probably because he was walking away from the love of his life, his other half, his soul mate...

Thomas immediately shut down that train of thought and instead spread out his wings. He took to the air and flew through the narrow entrance. He flew upwards this time, hugging the cliff side. Water dripped down into his eyes from the falls just inches above him, but his he just closed his eyes and continued upwards. Then he reached the top, and his lithe body sliced through the thundering water. The pressure, as intense as it was, lasted for only a second, and then he was out the other side.

The land was a lot lighter than when he had came here. The sun just under the horizon now, causing the falls to glisten. The forest round about was beginning to awaken with the occasional bird chirp and a squirrel dashing about... All such normal things, but nothing about this day felt normal.

The half-dragon flew up higher, and landed at the top of the cliff, next to the river that fed the falls. He turned then to face the fading moon, and took a step towards the falls. But then he paused, and his gaze dropped down to the ground. For a moment it looked as if his face would crumple once again, but the emotionless mask stayed in place.

"What do I do?" he whispered, voicing his thoughts. "I'm alone. And confused. And lost... I don't know the first thing about... awakening someone..."

His gaze flickered back up to the moon, and he took another step towards the edge. "Alice... Help me..."

His expression hardened. "I need help!" he shouted, his wings snapping open to emphasize his words. "Somebody! Anybody!" Birds scattered at his shouts. His head bowed, and his eyes slid shut. "Help me..."

"Thomas."

Thomas's head snapped up, and his breath was stolen from him. There she was, just as perfect as she had always been. A flowing white dress was draped over her body—a strong contrast to her loose black hair and her deep blue eyes, which were focused on him. She floated a few inches off of the ground without the aid of her fairy wings—wings that she had always kept hidden before, for it was safer that way.

"Alice..." Thomas managed to choke out, and tears sprung to his eyes. "You... you're back!" His face split into a wide grin and his heart felt like it had exploded into a million pieces. She was back! All he had done was ask for help, and she had come.

He rushed towards her, to give her a welcoming hug, but then paused when she held up her hand in warning.

"Thomas, I'm not coming back."

The statement confused him, and his initial enthusiasm faded away. Not coming back? But she was already here, in front of him...

"I'm dead, Thomas. I'm sorry." And she truly did look sorry—sorry for him. "You can't bring me back. I've moved on."

Dead... The word he had been avoiding. But... "No!" he shouted at her, panic in his eyes. "You're not! You can't be! Alice!" He reached for her hand, but she simply floated back.

"I'm sorry, Thomas." A tear trickled down her cheek as she watched him. "I really am, for leaving you like this. But I didn't have a choice. I had to save Faith. She was an innocent."

"No!" he shouted back. "She was a murderer! Because of her, you're gone!" The tears came again, but this time they were tears of rage. He was angry—angry at Faith for taking Alice away, angry at Alice for saying she was dead, angry at Jason for causing the big fight, but mostly angry at himself, for not being strong enough to save Alice.

"Thomas..." She paused, as if uncertain of how to proceed. Then she nodded to herself, and continued on. "You know as well as I do that this was anything but Faith's fault. And it was anything but yours. Don't blame her for it. Don't blame yourself for it. You'll only grow bitter because of it. And you'll turn into one of them—the Haters."

He shook his head, and then smiled up at her. "But it doesn't matter anymore. I have you, Alice. And I love you. That's all that matters."

Alice let out a soft sigh. "That's the problem, Thomas. You don't have me." Her eyes closed for a fraction of a second, and then opened back up. "I have to go," she whispered. "I'm out of time." Even as she spoke, she was slowly drifting backwards, away from him.

Thomas froze up, his eyes wide in horror. And then he rushed towards her, frantic. "No! Alice! I need you! Stay with me!" He grabbed a hold of her hand, surprised by how light and warm it seemed.

She paused at his action and stared at his tear streaked face for a moment, considering. Then she leaned down towards him, as he leaned up towards her. Their lips met. And then she was gone. And Thomas was all alone once again.

---

So, what do you think? Sad, isn't it? I think I overabused 30 Seconds to Mars's The Modern Myth song, though...

And I hoped that Alice seemed somewhat in-character. But it was difficult, after being away from the RP for so long.

Thomas sat at the edge of the falls, his mismatched eyes staring down at the land below him. He didn’t speak, didn’t think, didn’t feel. He just sat there like a statue.

Time passed. He didn’t know how much, nor did he care. The sun rose higher and higher, until it reached its zenith, and then it dropped down lower and lower. Darkness descended and a chilly wind blew across the land. Still Thomas sat there, unmoving, unaware.

More time passed. The sun rose back up, journeyed across the sky, and then sank back down below the horizon. Dark clouds filled the sky and the heavens wept. Thunder sounded its war drums, and lightning struck out. Still the half-dragon sat there, his body not so much as shivering as the raindrops washed over him. Morning came, and with it the end of the storm.

Time marched on, and another day passed.

On the morn of the second day since Alice’s visit, Thomas stirred. He lifted his worn head up, at the bright blue sky. Still no thoughts came to him; still no emotions surfaced.

The half-dragon rose to his feet and spread out his wings. His stomach rumbled; he was hungry. He threw himself off of the cliff, his wings catching in the air as he fell. He pumped them up and down a few times, pushing himself upwards. Then, after finding the proper altitude, he flew forward, over the green forest surrounding the falls. His sharp eyes flickered across the forest, searching for meat. Spotting a rabbit, he dived down and scooped it up in his claws. Without even bothering to touch down on the ground, he feasted on it.

The next few days passed in much the same way. Thomas kept himself locked away inside, and acted just on his animal instincts. He hunted, he drank, he slept. Sleep was the time he dreaded the most, for that’s when the nightmares would come. Because of this, he rarely slept, but instead just spent the long, cold nights staring down at the land below from the falls. He never was far from Alice’s resting place, for he couldn’t bear to leave it, even as numb as he was. It was as if… as if in leaving, Alice would disappear from his life altogether.

More time passed, and nothing seemed to change. The nightmares continued, growing worse if anything. No longer were they straight fact, but twisted recordings of the past. And never were they the exact same as the one before. They all ended the same, though, with Alice dying.

Slowly, though, Thomas’s thoughts turned to other things besides just survival. The woods were quiet and empty, with no sound of a human voice and no presence of a humanoid soul. There was nobody to talk to him, nobody to care about him, nobody to love him, nobody to know that he even existed—all things that Alice could have done had she been there with him, alive and well.

Pain flared through him as he thought of her and he doubled over, clutching his chest. His heart was pounding at twice its normal rate and he couldn’t draw in a single breath. The prey he had been chasing gratefully scrambled away as Thomas lost altitude rapidly in a freefall.

Alice… It had been weeks since he had thought of her, outside of the times he would wake screaming in the night. Those were times that he couldn’t control, couldn’t hold back. He had control during his waking hours, though—usually.

His eyes closed, slamming tightly shut. Images flashed before his eyes. Faith, standing there like an idiot. The Hater and Alice rushing to her rescue. Faith with a sword in her hands, plunging it into Alice’s chest. Jason, pulling on the face of Scarecrow. Alice, pleading desperately not to die, even as a sword stuck out of her gut. Faith, screaming out orders to kill Alice. Alice’s death cry, resounding and resounding in his mind. No longer could he separate fact from fiction, reality from nightmare.

He threw back his head and screamed, the noise startling every living creature around for miles. The scream caused his throat to go raw, as it sounded like it came from a creature that was more dead than alive.

Branches snapped as Thomas crashed down into the trees below, but the half-dragon didn’t even notice the fresh pain, so consumed in his world of nightmares. He slammed into the ground and lay still, desperately trying to get back his shield, his protection, his numbness. Tears trickled down his cheeks and his body shook with the power of his sobs.

He had thought that he had been healing, but it looked as if he had been wrong. He was still broken, a fragment of what he had once been.

Time supposedly healed everything, but he felt as if this pain would never go away, could never go away.

Another scream filled the air, and he writhed in agony, his broken heart feeling as if it was about to shatter into millions and millions of tiny little fragments. How could anyone survive this pain? But yet he had done it, every single night, again and again. Would it never end?

He had to get away.

Thomas forced himself to his feet, his heart still beating painfully in his chest.

He had to run.

The half-dragon closed his eyes and blindly ran forward, away from Alice.

He had to leave it all behind.

He tucked his wings in close to his body as he ran through the trees, his instincts and his sense of smell keeping him from hitting any of the pillars of wood.

He had to escape.

---

Hmm… For some reason, this reminded me of the Twilight series. The difference is, though, that “Edward” (Alice) isn’t coming back. Unlike Bella, Thomas is going to have to learn how to cope.

[Story has been moved.]

Here's Number 2 in the Challenge, this time using characters from The City of the Skies RP.




"Just... leave me alone!" Kami shouted at him, before storming out of the room and slamming the door shut behind her. She paused then, waiting for some kind of response, but she heard nothing from the other room. Good. He was actually listening to her, for once.

She drew in a ragged breath and then, knowing that she couldn't fight her tears back any longer, rushed for her room. She wouldn't let Kal have the satisfaction of knowing that he had gotten to her. Nor would she let anyone aboard this spaceship know that her unbreakable shell had been broken once again by her future mate.

The door to her room slammed shut and then some heavy metal started blaring, shaking the very walls of the ship. Kami threw herself onto her bed and slammed her pillow down over her head. And then she let it all out in the form of tiny droplets of liquid.

Why couldn't he understand? Yes, she loved him. Yes, he loved her. But it just couldn't work. She couldn't be with him--not a wouldn't, but a couldn't. Those that she loved always ended up dead. Hadn't that been proven time and time again?

Images flashed before her eyes--her mother's terrified gaze as Kami advanced on her under a full moon..., Javy's gentle voice commanding her to run as he was surrounded by the Hunters..., Kal fighting off the entire police force..., her breaking Viper's neck and the mercy gunshot that ended his life...

Yes, everyone she loved always died. Kal had even died once, only... he had come back, unlike the others. But that didn't mean he would again. He just... reminded her so much of Javy, and what she had lost. And it didn't help at all that he looked so much like her savior. She didn't want to lose either of them again...

Time passed. She didn't know how much, nor did she really care. Her sobs abated, but still she just continued to lay there, with her pillow over her head and the music blasting. She wasn't ready to face Kal yet, or anyone else for that matter.

Then her room went dark, and her music shut off with a soft whine. "So mature," Kami grumbled to herself as she sat up. She blinked a few times to help her eyes adjust to the darkness, and then she climbed to her feet. But, before she could even attempt to bring her power back up, there was a knock on her door.

"Kami? Are you in there? We need to talk."

She turned her head away and folded her arms, unwilling to answer Kal's calls, not even as they grew more desperate and pleading. She just simply slammed her pillow over her head and waited it out. But, as the pleading and the door banging continued relentlessly, she soon grew to realize that he wasn't going to leave, not until he had accomplished whatever it was that he had come here to do.

With a sigh, she dropped the pillow back onto the bed, and turned her silver gaze towards the metal door. It was then that she finally noticed that the doorknob was jiggling.

"Go away!" she yelled at Kal and seized the pillow in her trembling hands. "I don't wanna talk to you!" She then chucked the pillow as hard as she could against the door in an attempt to emphasize her words, but all she ended up with was a mist of feathers as the pillow exploded on contact. That was the curse of being a werewolf--one had to watch one's own strength, especially when angry.

But the attempt wasn't all for naught, for Kal's shouts died down, and there was silence. A minute pass, and then...

"Kami, please. Just explain to me why 'we' can't work. I understand that you've had some loss issues, but... that was in the past, Kami. I'm not him; I'm not Javy. No matter how much you may want me to be him, I can't. And no matter how much you believe I'm him, I'm not. Why can't you understand that? I'm not going to leave you--not now, not ever. Kami, I love you. Isn't that enough?"

She toyed with her dark, shoulder-length hair as she mulled over his words. He had said these same things before--both back on Earth and a time or two on this spaceship--but yet she had never really thought them over before, she had just yelled right back. And even now, that was what she was tempted to do, but yet... his last question lingered in her mind, causing her to doubt her thoughts and feelings.

Why wasn't his love enough? Why did she feel the constant need to make him prove it to her? Why did she feel the constant need to question his love for her? It was all because of Javy...

Her head tilted forward and her eyes slid shut, even as a tear trickled down her cheek. Yes, it was complicated. No, she didn't think that she could make Kal understand.

"Kami..." His voice was softer now, a mere whisper.

"What, Kal?" she whispered back, even as a second tear joined her first, and they both splashed down to the ground.

"Talk to me. Wolf to wolf. Packmember to packmember. Packmember to Alpha. Mate to mate. Friend to friend. However you want to do this. Just talk to me. I'm here for you. We can work through this."

She slowly shook her head, even though she knew that he couldn't see the movement. "You don't understand."

"Help me."

A slight smile tugged at her lips at his answer, but still she didn't get up to unlock the door. Instead she lay back down, giving the door a strange hand gesture as she did so. With a soft click, the door unlocked and swung open, revealing Kal. His brown hair was sticking up in all different directions, as if he had been running his hand through it over and over again, and his golden yellow eyes were swirling with both concern and confusion. But, as soon as he saw her, he perked up somewhat and offered her a nervous grin, revealing his sharp canines as he did so.

"You're not going to explode on me again, are you?" he asked inside the room.

She offered him a grunt and turned away, still too angry at him to even look in his general direction.

"Come on, Kami. We've been through so much together. I at least have a right to know why you won't give me a chance." He cautiously placed a hand on her shoulder, but she just ignored the touch.

"Kami..."

"You know why," she said bluntly, still refusing to look at him.

"Because of Javy. But Javy's gone. He's not coming back. And I'm not him. I'm not him, Kami. I'll never be him." His tone turned bitter. "No matter how much you want me to be him, I just can't measure up. So stop comparing me to him! I'm not going to die on you like he did! I'm always going to be here for you, Kami. I wish..." He drifted off, for which the young werewolf was grateful. His words cut deep, even though she had heard it all before. They would always hurt.

"You'll never understand," she mumbled, more to herself than him, but she knew that his sharp ears easily had caught her words. When he didn't respond, she reached up and rubbed at her watery eyes. Still he was silent, still he didn't move. Even when she reached up with a wet hand and placed it over the one on her shoulder, he still didn't respond. And then she broke down in front of him, in front of another living being--something that she had never done before. Sobs wracked through her body, and she curled into a miserable little ball. That's when Kal responded, sliding onto the bed beside her and expertly shifting her around so that she was crying into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Kal whispered into her ear, and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead. "But it's just so frustrating at times, wanting you to be mine for the rest of our lives, but being denied that because of something that happened in your past, something that I can't change. And I just don't understand why it has to stop you from loving me..."

"It's complicated," she whispered back in a brief lull between sobs. And then she looked up at him, a question in her teary eyes. "W-w-why do you love m-me..., when I... do-o-o n-nothing... but cause you gr-ri-ief-f?"

Kal grinned as he stared down at her. "It's complicated."

---

I may or may not have been inspired by Plaguewalker's story for this piece, but that's besides the point...

Anyways, what do you think? I had a lot of trouble with this one, for it was very complicated to write (no pun intended). Oh, and Kami is mine, while Kal is Ghostmaker's. And, yes, they are both werewolves. And yes, Kami is also a mage, but I couldn't figure out how to fit that bit of info into this story and still make it work...

Number 3 is centered on the character Martina, from the Pokemon: The Lost Age RP. But don't let the fact that it's Pokemon stop you from reading this, for this piece actually has very little to do with the Pokemon side of things.




Traitor.

She was a traitor.

But to whom?

To her own people?

To the Shadow Angels?

To both?

To neither?

Or to herself?

The assassin ran a hand through her light purple hair and let out a sigh. Her piercing blue eyes slid shut and she began to rock back and forth on the edge of her bed, with her knees pulled up close against her and her arms wrapped around them, in an attempt to drive the questions from her mind. But they wouldn't leave. If anything, they grew worse. The rocking motion had caused her back to flare up with pain, reminding her of the battle, and the fact that her back had been cut open by a sword--a sword that had been wielded by her childhood friend.

In her people's eyes, she had betrayed them. In the Shadow Angels' eyes, she had betrayed them. In her own eyes...

Images of the battle flashed through her mind. She had attacked her homeland. She had fought and killed her childhood friend. She had fought and killed the chief-of-police. But she had also warned her homeland of the attack beforehand. And she had led her troops poorly, when she could have done much better. She had lied about the strengths and weaknesses of the capitol. She had given an antidote to one of the enemy. And she had tried to kill her fellow Knight Angel, or general, with one of her poisoned daggers--a fact that he was well aware of.

So yes, maybe she had betrayed both. But was it really treason when she didn't know whose side she was on?

She slipped a hand into one of the inner pockets of her desert garb, but there was nothing there for her searching fingers to grasp. She bit her lip as she withdrew her hand, her mind fast forwarding to what had happened after the Land of Fire had fallen.

She had tried to sneak away, but the other Knight Angel, Huran, had been watching her. He had had her seized. She hadn't been expecting it, nor had she had the strength at the time to escape. She had been searched then, and all of her weapons and Pokemon had been taken from her. And then she had been taken directly back to the Shadow Angel base. But Shadow Archangel Luceon, the mastermind behind the Shadow Angels, had been too busy to see to her at the time, so she had been locked in her very own room--after it was also searched for both weapons and evidence of treason, of course.

And so she had waited here, for the past hour. And here she continued to wait, with nothing to do but recall all of the mistakes in her past, and to worry about the future.

Martina's rocking motion stopped and for a moment all there was, was pain. Then her eyes flickered open, landing on the large map of the known world pinned against the far wall, and she found herself distracted by memories once more. The world was nothing more than a collection of large islands, all of which rested close to one another. She had been to each and every one of those islands, for one reason or another, for one side or another. Some she had helped fortify. Some she had helped tear down.

Her eyes watered and she turned her head away from the map, unable to look at it any longer.

"The only thing worse than a traitor is a traitor who doesn't know where she belongs."

The words haunted her, sounding and resounding in her mind. The boy had said them to her, during the battle--the boy that she had given the antidote too.

"I messed up good," she said to herself, the light brown ghutra wrapped around her head and the lower half of her face muffling her words into a mere whisper. She reached up and wiped her tears away before they could fall, determined not to cry.

The click of a lock reached her ears and she turned just in time to see her door open and two Shadow Angel grunts step inside her room.

"Luceon requires your presence."

Martina nodded and rose to her feet without a sound, or the slightest hint of emotion on her face. She stepped out of the room, and the grunts followed. Huran came into view then, his eyes cold and furious as they gazed at her. She just simply held her head high and walked right on by him. He fell into step beside her, obviously there to make sure she didn't try and escape—not that she really could, with her injured back and all. The pain was enough to make her vision grow fuzzy, but she didn't let it show. Pain was weakness, and she was anything but weak.

"It doesn't matter what lies you try to feed him," Huran said a few minutes later, as they came to a halt in front of Luceon's room. "You're not going to escape the consequences of your actions, Martina. I know what I saw, and I saw treason."

Martina didn't bother to acknowledge his words. She just simply drew in a deep breath, gave a warning knock, and then stepped into the room. Huran stepped in behind her, and Luceon's cold gaze studied her. In that instant, she realized the truth of Huran's words. As good as she was at appearing something she wasn't, she wasn't going to worm herself out of this one.

She had betrayed the Shadow Angels.

She had betrayed her people.

She had betrayed herself.

She was a traitor.

Traitor...

And now she had to pay the price.

---

So what do you think? And no, I don't know what happens to her, for this RP died when school started last year, during the end of the battle.

Oh, and Huran is manysidestome's, while Luceon is Leo's.

[Story has been moved.]

[Story has been moved.]

Theme 6 deals with the Midnight RP, and my character Alyssa.



The rebel leader stared out across the foggy field, calmly watching as the Queen’s soldiers marched towards her and her small group. She then turned, her sea blue eyes flickering over her rebels. They were all young like her, but yet they were different. They had something that she would never have… Magic. Not that that would change the outcome of the battle.

“We all know how this is going to end,” their leader said as she turned back to face the advancing soldiers, her voice sounding silently muffled in the fog. “Though I have to admit, I never thought that things were going to end up like this.”

Silence descended upon the small group then, as each rebel pondered their fate, and what had led them to it. This silence was broken a few moments later, by one of the younger rebels.

“We’ll give them heck,” he said, voicing the thoughts of the ragtag army.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” the rebel leader said with a nod and a grim smile.

In the silence that followed, the sound of the soldiers’ footsteps grew louder, striking the earth again and again, like the death toll of a bell. The rebels never shifted position, never looked away. This was it, and they all knew it.

The soldiers seemed to pause for a moment, as if expecting their commander to call a halt, but the command never came. There would be no mercy given to magic users.

The rebel leader placed a hand on the hilt of her katana, and let out the breath she hadn’t known she had been holding. She then drew her sword, and held it up into the air. “For the future!” she cried, shouting out the rebel war cry. She then rushed forward with narrowed eyes, determined to not go down without a fight. Her rebellion sounded out the war cry as well, rushing after her with grim smiles on their faces. This was it and they all knew it. They were rushing to their death.

The soldiers quickened their pace, letting out yells of their own.

Time seemed to slow then, as the two opposing forces rushed towards one another. Nothing separated them, except for a foggy meadow of wildflowers. The noise was so deafening that there seemed to be nothing but silence. Each movement that was made seemed to be exaggerated. But then the first move was made, and time sped back up.

Twenty feet away from the soldiers, the magic users made their stand. A bolt of lightning sped across the gap, striking a column of soldiers. A miniature tornado appeared in the center, striking down all of those near it. The ground exploded underneath a column, sending soldiers flying in all directions. Cries of pain filled the air, and bodies tumbled to the ground.

The two armies met then, and all Heck broke lose. The rebel leader jumped into the fray without a moment’s thought for her own safety. Her sword flashed in the dim light as she swung to the right and the left, fending off all attacks that came her way. Like a hurricane, she left nothing but total destruction in her wake.

The air was thick with the sounds of battle, and the field was slick with blood. This was the dance of death, where only the best survived. Both sides knew this, so neither faltered. A body fell here, and a body fell there. The plunging of a sword, the crackling of lightning, the thunking of an arrow, the thundering of shifting earth… With each move the players made, a life was lost and a life was saved. But numbers were against the small force of magic users—a fact made obvious the longer the battle raged.

The rebel leader continued to fend off foes with her katana, even as her arms grew numb from the constant clashing of weapons. To stop was to die. But then the last of the soldiers around her tumbled to the ground and no more came her way, giving her a chance to get a breather.

Her sword dug into the soft earth below as she leaned against it, breathing heavily. Her sea blue eyes then flickered all around her, searching for her troops. Seven were all she could see, out of the forty that had charged out into battle with her. Seven… Her eyes watered at this realization, but she fought her tears back. This wasn’t a moment to show weakness; this was a moment to go out in a blaze of glory.

She drew in a deep breath, even as the commander of the soldiers started towards her, intent on asking her for surrender. Silence fell upon the stained battlefield, as all eyes turned towards the two leaders.

“For us all,” the rebel leader breathed as she turned to face the approaching general, using her katana much like one would use a cane.

With a grin, she took a weary step towards the General, and then came to a halt, as if unable to go any further. Only fifteen feet separated the two of them now, and the commander was still coming. Thirteen feet now… Twelve… Ten… Eight… Eight—that was enough.

Just as the General came to a halt, the rebel leader rushed forward with a yell, her sword held back behind her, much like a bat just before the ball is thrown. No one expected the move, but the reaction was immediate. Soldiers rushed to their leader’s rescue, but there just wasn’t time. Realizing this, the General lifted up his sword to block her move. Still she rushed forward, screaming out her battle cry. Spurned into action by her bold move, her rebels turned to attack the enemy soldiers, but were shot down by archers who had just been waiting for an excuse to attack once more. This was it.

The General swung at her, but she ducked underneath his sword and rolled past him. In a flash, she was back up on her feet, and her sword was slicing through the air, towards the General’s unprotected back. He started to turn, with eyes wild in fear, but it was too late. His head rolled across the ground, coming to a rest beside one of his soldiers. His body then fell, hitting the ground while his soldiers stared on in shock.

“It is… done,” the rebel leader whispered, as her bloodstained sword was lowered to the ground. Blood dripped down her cheek—not her own, but the General’s. She had done it; it was over.

The rebel leader turned then, and walked away, with her sword dragging along the ground. The soldiers made no move to stop her, still in shock from what had happened. The man that had seemed so invincible to them was gone, killed by someone half of his age. They couldn’t take it in. And by the time that anyone thought to kill the rebel leader, she was long gone.

She walked as if in a stupor, her mind still reeling from the battle, and what had taken place. Her first real battle, and it had been a massacre…

“I’m sorry,” she whispered to no one in particular. “I’m so sorry…”

Was freedom from tyranny worth this much?

They had been forty against hundreds…

And now only one remained.

I'm not quite sure what this is... I was bored and I didn't have my current story printed out, nor did I have access to the computer. And I was thinking about Siv and her brother...





Lately my thoughts have been turning to the past, to my little sister. I haven't thought about her in years, but the pain and the guilt hasn't lessened at all through time.

It's my fault that she's gone. It's my biggest shame, my biggest regret. After it had happened, I went through months of 'what ifs' and 'if onlys'. Even now, those are swirling through my mind.

What if she was still alive somewhere? What if she didn't know her way back home? What if I had just searched a little longer, would I have found her? If only I had taken her with me into that shop, instead of leaving her alone. If only I had watched her just a little more closely. If only I hadn't been too proud to take another warrior with me on the journey. What if...? If only... Then would my little sister have stayed safe?

I know that I can't dwell on the past, but that doesn't stop the thoughts from coming.

What if...? If only...

---

So what do you think? It's definitely different from what I normally write.

Oh, and Hotaru and Siv are both mine. And Siv made an appearance in the A Pirate's Life For Me RP.

I wrote this for a writing contest a couple months back, which I didn't win. Of course, I wrote it on the day of the deadline, so it was rushed and I didn't expect it to win...

Anyways, this story deals with Alyssa from my Midnight RP. This is the tale of how her rebellion was started.





The teen stared out the second story window, her lips turned down in a frown. Her sea blue eyes flashed in irritation and then narrowed. This wasn’t fair. She abruptly turned away from the window and started on her way to the stairs, only to be stopped by her mother’s cry.

“Alyssa!”

The teen turned slowly, to see that her mother standing in the doorway of the playroom. The older woman had tears in her brown eyes, even as she tried to hide her sorrow.

“Lisa, don’t do this. Please.”

Alyssa shook her head, even as she turned to leave once more. “I’m tired of it, Mother. I’m tired of always watching, and never doing anything to stop it. What if one of us is next?!” She banged a fist against the wall as tears came to her own eyes. “It’s not right…”

Her mother walked over to her with slow steps, and then placed an arm around her shoulders. “Lisa, getting killed isn’t going to solve this problem either. Just…”

“You’re right,” she whispered, interrupting her mother. “Nothing will change as long as the Queen is in charge. She must be taken down, then everything will be better.” Her fingers curled into fists at that thought. The Queen was in charge of this mess, so it just made sense. All she had to do was cut off the head of the serpent…

“Listen to yourself, Alyssa! You talk of things that are impossible.”

“No.” She shook her head and took a step away from her mother. “I don’t.” She turned and their eyes met—hers filled with a wild new hope, and her mother’s filled with fear. “You’re a magic user too! You don’t know how this feels to me, me personally!” She stabbed a finger into her chest, trying to emphasize the point. “I am the only one in this family who doesn’t have magic flowing in my veins. I am the only one who is different, who has nothing special I can do. What if this is it? What if this is what I’m meant to do? It feels so right, Mother.” Tears trickled down her face and splashed down onto the floor, but her anger stayed with her.

Her mother didn’t say anything for a moment, but instead placed a hand on her swollen stomach. She then drew in a deep breath and let it out. “What will I have to say to this child, when he gets older? He’ll notice that there’s a vacant seat. He’ll notice the pictures with the redheaded girl, and want to know who she is. How can I possibly explain what happened to his sister, on a day so near his birth?”

“At least I’ll have tried, instead of hiding in the shadows like a fool and a coward!”

“This isn’t just about that though, is it? Is it?”

Alyssa turned away, not wanting to answer the question.

“You don’t have to prove yourself to anyone, Lisa. Your difference doesn’t make you any less than your sisters.”

“But that’s just it. They can do amazing things, while I’m just… me. This is my chance to finally be something, to finally make a difference. I want to make it safe for you, for my sisters, and for the baby. I hate this—this constant fear of being discovered and watching as you are all killed. It shouldn’t be this way.”

“Lisa…”

“I’m not asking for your permission, Mother. I was meant to do this, I can feel it. Goodbye.”

With those final words, Alyssa left the house. She took nothing with her, save for a bag with the basic supplies for survival, her sword, and a photograph of her family. That was all she would need, for now.

The fight that she had been watching from the window was still going on, between the Queen’s soldiers and the lone magic user. No…, it wasn’t much of a fight anymore. Murder was the right word for it now.

With a determined expression on her face, she made her way through the crowd that had formed and then headed towards the soldiers. “Leave him alone,” she growled as she came to a halt and placed a hand on her sword.

The soldiers paused and glanced up at her with wide eyes of shock. She knew what they were thinking. Nobody ever stood up for a magic user. Everyone who wasn’t one feared them, and everyone who was one lived by the survival of the fittest rule. Doing what she was doing now meant death.

“You heard me,” she growled when they didn’t move.

Somebody laughed then. Alyssa turned to see that it was the commanding officer, who had been watching the whole thing from against the building. The man straightened up and then headed towards her.

“What have we here? Another magic user defending a magic user?” he chuckled in his gruff voice.

“No,” Alyssa said, her answer ringing out loud and clear in the early morning air. “I’m just not a coward, like everyone else.”

The commanding officer’s grin faded away as he evaluated her. “I’d watch that mouth of yours. Also, I’d check your facts before speaking. We don’t like magic users.” As he said ‘we’ he gestured at the crowd to show that he meant more than just the Queen and her soldiers. “They’re just filthy, no-good, swine, who make life harder for the ‘onest folk.”

Alyssa’s eyes flickered this way and that to judge the crowd’s reaction. To her disgust, they were nodding in agreement with the soldier. She then glanced up at her home, to see her mother watching things out of the same window that she had been looking out of earlier. Then her eyes landed on the injured magic user, who looked to be just about her age. He was watching her not only with confusion, but with admiration as well. She grinned at this, and then turned her attention back to the officer.

“What was he doing, when the fight broke out?” She nodded at the magic user on the ground and then waited.

“That filthy scum attacked my soldiers. We had no choice.”

Lies… She should have expected that. She had seen the whole thing from start to the beating. This magic user had been anything but the aggressor. “This is getting nowhere fast,” she muttered to herself as she ran through her lists of options. Run away… Keep chatting and wasting time… Attack… There really wasn’t a whole lot at this point.

“I’m going to give you one more chance,” she said as she tightened her grip on her sword. “Release him, or there’ll be Heck to pay.”

Instead of answering, the officer reached for the gun at his side—a weapon she had failed to notice. She drew her sword and rushed forward, knowing even as she ran that it was already too late. The gun fired, and its bullet shot straight towards her heart. Still she ran, expecting the bullet to enter her body at any moment. Only after she had reached the officer and swung for his head did she realize that she was still alive and unhurt. The officer, though, wasn’t so lucky. Too shocked by the fact that she hadn’t been hit, he hadn’t even of had time to move. His body hit the ground and suddenly Alyssa felt sick. She had killed…

There wasn’t time to dwell on things, though, for the soldiers were rushing towards her, intent on ending her life. She moved into a ready position, ready for the fight of her lifetime.

“Run, you idiot!” the injured magic user shouted as he forced himself up onto his feet.

Alyssa glanced over at him and then back at the charging soldiers. Coming to the conclusion that he was right, she ran for it. Instead of running away from the soldiers, though, she ran towards them. Ducking underneath their weapons, she continued to run, until she reached the magic user.

“You’re serious about saving my life, aren’t you?” he asked as she yanked him to his feet.

“Well, it’s kind of hard to start a rebellion if I let my first member die,” she replied back.

He laughed at this, wincing as the movement hurt his wounds. There wasn’t anymore time for talk, though, as the soldiers started towards them. Both teens watched as they drew closer, unsure of how to get out of this sticky situation.

Flames suddenly erupted, burning the soldiers’ grey uniforms. Alyssa laughed at this, and then sheathed her sword. “Looks like we’re not the only ones willing to make a stand,” she whispered in glee as she bent down low. The teen climbed up onto her back and then she straightened. The instant that he had a secure hold on her, she took off running. The soldiers were too busy trying to put out the flames to even attempt to stop them.

Alyssa ran and ran and ran. She didn’t know where she was running to, and she didn’t care. As long as it was safe, that was good enough for her. Finally, when she couldn’t run anymore, she collapsed down onto the grassy bank of the Zamore River. The town of Thistle had been left behind long ago.

The magic user slid down off of her back and the two of them lay there, panting for breath.

Finally, the injured teen held out his hand to her, which had a bullet resting in it. “I suppose that this is yours.”

“But how?” she asked as she regarded the bullet in shock. That small metal object had been shot at her, not him…

“Human magnet,” he replied with a grin. “Now about that rebellion you mentioned…”

She smiled back at him. “We are going to take down the Queen, and make this place safe for everyone, no matter what flows in their veins. We’re going to make a difference.”

“Yes, let’s make a difference.”

I figured that since this round of the drabble contest is over, I can go ahead and paste my short story here.

The theme for the first round was rain, and we had to include at least one of these lines:

Quote :

"And now I'm all wet!"

"It's always funny to watch people scurry to get out of the rain."

"Puddles were made to jump in."

"You're going to caught a cold, you know."

"Rain, rain, go away."

Here's how I did:

Quote :

And I know both Casey Jewel and arasam22 got the same scores from us, but I only wanted one(I know I have issues....). So I looked at our comments and here is the Judge's Choice. Good work and don't slack off.
https://2img.net/h/i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd40/PainfulxLies/banner3.jpg
Total:28

Casey Jewels' Nuisance: +3
volleygirl-8 Toko-9 flamehead-8
Total:28 (the highest score)

---

“It’s always funny to watch people scurry to get out of the rain.”

Absol raised up his head at the sound of her voice, his unblinking red eyes watching his owner for any signals. However, the young woman’s hands remained motionless and, after a few moments, he lay his head back down at his front legs.

“They act as if it is some unwanted thing, a nuisance, if you will. But yet, without the rain they could not survive.” She let the tent flap fall back down and then walked deeper inside. Just before she stepped out of sight, she held up her index and her pointer finger, and then tapped them on her side.

The disaster Pokemon obeyed the order, focusing his sole attention on the doorway of the tent. They were in enemy territory; he had to keep up his guard.

“You ready for our next mission, Charm?” Her voice was muffled by the light brown ghutra wrapped around her head and the lower half of her face—desert clothing from their home—but still he caught her words clear as day. Absol gave a slight wag of his tail to show that he had heard her, while his gaze remained focused on the tent entrance.

Many moons had passed since the last time they had been on a mission. Travel had taken up most of that time, as they couldn’t be seen on the main roads or in the cities. Absol didn’t fully understand why, but he knew that, for some reason, everybody wanted Martina dead. Martina—that’s what everyone else called her, at least when they were being civil. He had heard her called worse names.

Martina walked past him right then, flicking her hand out. Without a sound, he climbed to his feet and followed her out of the tent that they had been “borrowing”. The rain pelted down on the two figures, but neither reacted to it. Absol’s curious eyes flickered towards the people running about in the construction site below, seeking a shelter of some kind. His owner was right; it was an almost funny sight.

“Charm.”

He turned, his eyes catching sight of the brown fabric that his owner was holding out towards him. “Hide and seek,” she told him, her voice blunt and serious. “This bridge can’t be built.”

The dog-like creature stepped forward a few steps and sniffed at the piece of clothing, fixing the target’s scent in his mind. The rain would make it more difficult to track the man, but he was confident that he could do it. After all, it was what was required of him by his owner.

Charm started down the slope, his pace swift and sure. He could hear his owner following after him, her pace nearly matching his. As he trotted downwards, his eyes flickered back over to the construction camp.

The rain was nothing compared to the fate that lay in store for these men, but only he and Martina knew it.

This was my first entry for the school theme in the drabble contest. However, I wasn't happy with it and wrote another.

Quotes:

Quote :

Use two or more of these quotes:

"I left my brain at home."

"Yes you can't."

"Are we cooking in cooking today?" "What kind of question is that? It's like asking are we going to do history in history. Nah I thought we do math." "Sorry..."

"I have this fool proof plan. I'm going to fail all my classes."

"Last time I got straight A's was in grade school(you can use elementary school instead of grade school)!"

"I don't answer because I don't want to be right."

"But, but, -insert subject- is so....last year!"

“Ah, there you are, Thomas.”

The young boy nodded as he cautiously stepped into the office with his head bowed down low and his hands firmly clasped together in front of him.

“Sit,” the counselor said as waved a hand at the empty chair just before his desk. “We have a lot to talk about.”

Thomas let out a soft sigh and sat down on the very edge of the chair, his body hunched over in a ball-like manner. His gaze remained fixed on the ground, as if to look the older man in the eye would mean death.

“Thomas, I’ve taken a look at your records, and I saw something there that surprised me. You’re smart.”

“The last time I got straight A’s was in elementary school,” Thomas said in his low voice, interrupting the counselor.

The counselor waited for a moment for the boy to continue, but Thomas didn’t say another word. “Why did you stop trying?” he asked after several minutes had ticked by. “Why don’t you participate in class? Why don’t you do your assignments? What’s holding you back?”

Thomas bit his lip and turned his head away. “I don’t answer because I don’t want to be right.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t, that’s why!” Thomas shot to his feet, his fingers curled into fists. For a moment, his expression was angry, but then the anger faded away as quickly as it had come, and he sank back down into the chair, his eyes downcast.

“What is stopping you?”

“Everything.” Thomas climbed back to his feet and headed for the door, tired of this discussion. It wasn’t going to change anything. He opened the door and moved to step out, but then paused and looked back at the school counselor. “And nothing you or anybody else says is going to change anything. Just… stop wasting your time. Please.”

With that, the half-dragon stepped out of the office and let the door bang shut behind him as he walked away. The sound echoed after him, mocking him and his pathetic life.

Everything in the world was stopping him from living his life to the fullest.

But the biggest obstacle was himself.

Here's my second attempt. And Jason is Fire Lord's.



The young half-dragon poked his head around the corner of the hall, looking just long enough to catch sight of her. That was all it took to make his heart flutter and his cheeks to warm. As she glanced in his direction, he immediately straightened back up and pressed his back against the wall, not wanting her to catch him staring. However, it appeared that everybody else had noticed his strange behavior and were giving him a wide berth.

Thomas bit his lip and leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes as he did so. Being different from everyone was hard enough without coming to Sylvan several weeks after the school year had begun. Having the status of new kid did nothing to help him blend into the background.

“Hey, new kid!”

Thomas flinched at the voice and drew in a deep breath to steady himself as he turned to face threat.

“Y-yes?” the new kid stuttered, his legs trembling as the older boy stopped before him, his towering frame and large muscles intimidating Thomas.

“I don’t believe you’ve been given a proper welcome to the home of trouble kids.” The older boy cracked his knuckles and smiled, his hazel eyes focused on Thomas’s trembling form.

“Don’t,” Thomas squeaked out as he scrunched down a little lower.

“What’s the matter?” the boy asked as he leaned over Thomas. “Scared of big, bad Cobra? Afraid that you can’t escape, can’t fight back? Well yes, you can’t. I’m going to beat you to a pulp, newbie.”

There was silence for a moment as he stared at Thomas, studying the young boy’s expression of terror. Then he grabbed the half-dragon by the shoulders and gave him a rough shake.

“What? You’ve got nothing to say, freak? Not going to tell me how much of a jerk I am? Not going to tell me a sob story of how I pick on others because of my insecurities? Not going to tell me how big of a loser I am?” He gave Thomas another shake, this one rougher than the first. “Huh? Why don’t you answer me, freak?”

“I don’t answer because I don’t want to be right,” Thomas mumbled, regretting the words as soon as he had spoken them.

“Why you little…” Cobra growled and moved to punch Thomas in the face, but then a hand wrapped around his wrist, stopping him.

Thomas slowly lifted his head, looking past the bully to see a boy several years older standing there. His kind brown eyes looked at Thomas for a moment, and then flickered over to the bully as he released the larger kid.

“Get lost,” the rescuer growled. Immediately the bully fled the place, his eyes filled with fear. The older boy then turned back to Thomas. “You alright?”

“Y-yeah,” Thomas replied in a shaky voice as he took boy’s offered hand. “W-who are y-you?”

The boy grinned as he pulled Thomas upright. “You can call me Jason.”

Just a warning, I cried when this idea first hit me, and I just about cried while writing it. And it's with Alyssa from the Midnight RP.




“Raid!” the young teenager cried out. She tore her wide sea blue eyes from the window and hurried deeper into the house, following the sounds of her sisters’ squeals of fear. Could they not understand to keep quiet?

“You guys know the drill!” she called out as she caught sight of the two twins stumbling about.

They both turned to look at her, fear clearly etched on their three-year-old faces. Lisa felt her heart wretch at that look, but she was powerless to make it go away. All she could do was get them to their hiding places.

She strode forward and scooped them both up. Then, without even bothering to regain her balance, she rushed forward, to the upstairs.

“Open up!” a voice boomed. Two loud raps sounded on the door, causing Lisa’s heart to flutter. However, no fear could be seen in her eyes as she shoved the two little girls into the hiding place. She gave the whispered instruction to be silent, then slid the panel back into place.

The two raps came again, this time with much more force.

“Three.”

Lisa turned, her features twisted with worry. Were all of her sisters hidden safely away?

“Two.”

There wasn’t time to check. She rushed down the wooden steps and flew towards the front door.

“One.”

Breathless, she flung the door open to see a large man dressed in a dark brown uniform of the Queen’s army. His hand, curled into a solid fist, was raised, as if he had been about to bash the door down, but he lowered it at the sight of the young teenager.

“Get out of the way,” he growled at her as his brown eyes swept over her tomboyish figure, obviously seeing her as anything but a threat.

Lisa quickly stepped aside, knowing that it was safer for both her and her family if she didn’t resist. Resistance led to a more thorough search, and they needed anything but that.

The soldier stepped inside, followed by two more men who looked to be just as buff. Neither of them so much as glanced over at Lisa, but instead simply stepped deeper into the house.

The three soldiers split up, leaving Lisa just standing there. She watched them go without so much of a word, but she was anything but happy about the whole business. All she could do was pray that their search would be quick, and that they would discover nothing. Her entire body was numb with the fear of what could happen, did they discover one of her sisters.

A shriek filled the air then, so young and full of fear.

“I’ve got one!” a soldier called out.

In an instant, it felt as if Lisa’s whole world had been shattered. “No!” she half-shrieked, half-screamed. The young teen moved forward, but it felt as if she was running through a thick fog. She was too slow; she was too late.

The soldier came down the stairs, carrying a struggling nine-year-old in his arms. The little girl was crying, pleading, begging not to be taken away, not to be killed. The soldier seemed immune to her sobs—no, not just immune. A cruel smile spread across his face and he leaned his head down, whispering something in her ear with a chuckle.

“Ani!” Lisa cried out, tears stinging her eyes. She moved to defend her sister, only to find a hand on her shoulder, holding her back.

“Harboring magic scum is a crime that is punishable by death,” the soldier holding her whispered in her ear.

She froze, the tears flowing freely from her eyes now.

No.

The thought was quiet, unbelieving, denying. This couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t happening. All she had to do was close her eyes, count to ten, and open them back up. Then this nightmare would all be over—it had to be.

Her eyes flickered shut and she slowly mumbled the numbers. “One.” Ani’s screams were loud, terrified, impossible to block out.

“Two.” The soldier’s hand was solid, squeezing tighter on her shoulder.

“Three.” His breath was hot on her cheeks, making it hard to concentrate on nothing but the numbers.

“Four.” Ani’s screams tore at her very soul, and she couldn’t finish.

Lisa’s eyes flew open and she rushed towards the soldier carrying the hysterical form of her little sister. She didn’t take more than a couple of steps, however, before the soldier’s grip on her shoulder tightened, yanking her back, away from Ani as the little girl disappeared out the door of the house.

“It would be wise not to resist,” the soldier holding onto her said as he stepped in front of her. He placed a hand underneath her chin, pushing her crying face upwards. “As long as you cooperate, we will not take your life.”

Lisa’s eyes narrowed as she stared up at him and she shoved her hands forward, striking the armor across his chest. He just laughed at her foolish efforts, as if the whole thing was a game. But it wasn’t! It wasn’t…

“No!” the young teen howled as she lunged for the soldier. Her hands tore at him, searching for flesh that she could harm. Her legs kicked at him, unaware of the bruises that were forming on her own skin as they met nothing but armor.

They fell, with the soldier on the bottom, but she wasn’t aware of the change. She fought back with all she had, her tears nearly blinding her. The soldier’s grip never loosened on her shoulder, but his other hand he raised up before him to shield himself from her wild frenzy. He shouted and the third soldier rushed over to help him. Lisa fought against him too, as he pulled her off of the soldier.

“No!” Lisa shrieked, struggling frantically for all she was worth.

Ani’s screams were growing fainter and fainter. The little girl was fading from Lisa’s life.

The two soldiers shoved Lisa against the wall, pinning her there. She struggled against them, her body jerking about as if she was having a seizure. She could do nothing but call out Ani’s name, over and over. Nothing else mattered.

One of the soldiers, the one she had attacked, drew back a fist and slammed it home into the side of her face. She choked back a cry of pain and kicked out wildly, her legs just falling short of their intended targets.

He hit her again and again, until, finally, she went limp and her sobs became quiet, muted. They let her beaten form fall to the ground and then turned and walked out as quickly as they had come.

Lisa waited until she heard the door slam shut before lifting her bleeding face from the floor. She stared at the door for a moment in silence, and then she bit her lip. Her eyes slid shut and she really began to cry then.

Ani was gone.

Gone…

Forever…

What was Lisa going to say, when their mother got home? How could she explain the empty seat to her sisters? What had she allowed to happen?

“Ani,” she moaned as her head hit the ground, tears falling freely from her eyes.

“I’m sorry…”

Casey you are such a good writer. I can see why people love your writing. And I hope you always keep the judges critisms in mind when you write. XD

Thanks! That means a lot to me.

And I keep forgetting to ask for the comments from the judges... I'm going to try to do better in the future, because lately I've been feeling like my writing isn't where I want it to be, but I have a hard time picking up on my own mistakes the majority of the time. I really need some tips as to where I'm going wrong.

This story is about Rain Vandom from The Watchers RP.

Dust in the Wind

She walked without seeing, without hearing, without a purpose. Her head was bent down low and her brown eyes were fixed on the ground. People rushed past her without a second glance, all in a hurry to get where they were going. But the girl had no destination. Everything she had thought she had was gone.

Her steps slowed, until she had reached a complete stop.

“Get outta the way!” a man growled at her as he shoved past, but she didn’t so much as look up at him.

Her eyes slid shut and she slowly rocked back and forth. The man had lied to her. The man had taken her away from the only person in the world who loved her. But it wasn’t the man that she blamed, it was herself.

She had been the one gullible enough to believe his words, and to believe that this job of his could solve all of her problems. Now she was back on the streets once again.

She let out a soft sigh and started forward once again. When the crowd stopped, she simply pushed past them. The next thing she knew, there was the sound of horns blaring and tires squealing. The teen lifted up her gaze to see a car coming straight at her.

Her eyes widened and she held out in her hands in front of her, as if that could somehow protect her from the blue Porsche heading her way. Several people screamed, but she didn’t utter a sound. Even as the car slammed into her body and sent her flying towards the ground, she made no noise. Her body hit the street and finally she let out a cry of anguish.

Everything hurt, from her head down to her toes. The pain was blinding, distorting her senses. She could hear a car door slamming from far away, and a woman rushing up to her with her mouth open wide in horror.

“I’m sorry!” she gushed as she hit the ground next to the teen. “I’m so sorry!”

The teen ignored her and glanced down at her managed body to see blood gushing all around her and a white thing poking out of her leg. “My leg is broke…” she whispered in shock, her mind slowly processing that what she was seeing was her bone.

“Don’t worry,” the lady whispered as she placed a cool hand on the teen’s already hot forehead. “I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”

Rain Vandom nodded once, and then closed her eyes as everything faded away.

This piece is my shortest theme yet. It wasn’t supposed to be this short, but that’s what it ended up being. This piece is told in Le’voc’s POV, and is set in The City in the Skies RP universe, at the end of the RP.

EDIT: Kal and Nines belongs to Ghostmaker. Senka is Shadow Moonseye's. And Kaine is Plaguewalker's.



Life is fleeting, even for those of us who are immortal. One second you’re on top of the world, and the next you’ve lost everything. A moment lasts for only an instant, and then it is lost. Joy fades away, while pain and misery stay. Accomplishments are forgotten, while failure is forever there to haunt your very soul.

Death does this to you, makes you think about things that you normally wouldn’t. All you can do is regret the past, and regret the future you’ll never have.

As I stand here, staring up at the night sky, I can’t help but feel those regrets. Death at this point is almost inescapable for me. However, it is not my own life that I care about, but those of the Pack.

Kami is the one that brought my squad here. She is an oddity among the mutts, possessing the gift of magic. But she is also the weakest link, with her broken past.

Kal is the Alpha of the Pack. He possesses no magic, but yet he is the biggest threat. He is the one that came up with their escape plan, and he is the one that has kept the Pack together during their fights.

Senka is the oddball of the Pack, for she isn’t a mutt like the rest, but instead a weredrake. She is a fierce little demon, but also the one that causes the least fights among the Pack.

Kaine is a dual threat—both a mutt and a reptile. But he is also the one that causes the most trouble among the Pack, and the one that is the least accepted—that is, by Kami.

Nines is the last. He isn’t an official member of their group, for he doesn’t feel the pull of a beast. Instead, he is only along for the ride. Still, he is the smartest out of them all when it comes to electronics.

They are the five that bested my squad, making us Hunters appear as nothing more than bumbling fools.

We are elite to them.

We are superior to them.

Yet…

We failed.

[Story has been moved.]

Here's my latest entry in the Drabble Contest on ASN. The theme was Dreams, and the character I chose to do it with was Siv, who made an appearance in the A Pirate's Life For Me RP.

Just Being Silly
Summary: A slave contemplates her loneliness one night
Rating: K
Fanfiction used/Original: Original
Word Count: 499


Siv hugged her knees close to her as she stared out of the small window of the wagon. Stars glittered at her, beckoning her to come and play with them. She reached for them through the metal bars of her cage, but her hand grasped nothing except empty air. After a few moments, she let her hand fall back to her side.

The caravan moved on, oblivious to her loneliness. The wagons creaked as they traveled along the dusty road. The occasional animal cry would sound out, but most of those sounds come from the wagons, instead of from the wild. No humans spoke, as all but those steering the horses were asleep.

“I want to follow my dreams,” the young girl told the stars, her words coming out in a low whisper. “But… I’m not sure if I’m good enough to.”

The monkeys in the cage next to her lifted up their heads, her words awakening them. They scolded her for being so loud, much like one would scold a disobedient child for speaking out of turn.

“You’re right,” she murmured back. “I’d never make it on my own.” She reached up and gently touched the leather collar around her neck. “I would be nothing without Master Zaroff. But still…, I can’t help but dream of something more…”

The monkeys chattered at her once more to keep quiet, but her mind, desperate for conversation, warped the sounds into the words of ‘are all your dreams that weird?’.

A sad smile made its way across her face and she leaned back against the bars of her cage. “Yeah,” she sighed. “I am being silly, aren’t I? This is my life.”

The monkeys didn’t respond back, deciding that it was useless to scold her any longer. Instead, they simply huddled close to one another and drifted off into sleep.

Siv watched them with envy, desperately wishing that she had someone to hold her close, to protect her, to love her. The animals tolerated her, but that was all. The humans treated her less than the beasts. She would never be one of them; she didn’t belong anywhere.

The slave slowly lowered herself down onto the cold floor of her cage and pulled herself into a tight little ball. Would this ride through the night ever end? Normally the jostling of the wagon was something she could ignore, but each bump simply reminded her that there was no one there to hold her close.

“This is where I want to be,” she whispered to herself, desperate to drive the loneliness away. “I know I belong on this path.” She was a dancer for Master Zaroff, and that’s all she ever would be. Dancing was what she had been made for.

But still, in the dark of that wagon, she could just catch a glimpse of something else, something more.

A hand, holding onto hers. Dark blue eyes, watching her. A smile, brightening up her world.

“I can see my dream already…”

Gasp! I know who that is she's dreaming about at the end! S'been awhile since I thought about that git...good times good times. Great, now I wanna write with him...Thanks alot.

Good story though. I love the chattery monkies.