[Half Tree]

username; Half Tree
name;
gender;
prompt;
extra; (optional)

<33

[irina]

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username - irina
name - Jamie
gender - gender neutral (pref they/them)

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Jamie had gone to bed at exactly 9:00 PM. Their parents had a strict bedtime, and that was more than fine with them. They were never one to stay up late. When they did, it always ended in them either a) getting sick, or b) being a grump the next day. So, they listened to the bedtime rule. Who were they trying to kid, anyway? They followed all of the rules that were given. It was apparent that their sister did not.

Being roughly awakened by a paw to the face, Jamie shot up out of bed, terrified. They looked around the room wildly, their eyes as wide as dinner plates. There stood their sister, Jackie, standing proudly. Jamie furrowed their eyebrows. "What is wrong with you?" she hissed. "We are supposed to be sleeping! Mom and Dad will kill us if they find out!"

Jackie, as per usual, giggled and rolled her eyes. She was only a year younger than Jamie, but she was definitely the troublemaker between the two. It was supposed to be the older one sneaking out and doing dumb things, wasn't it?

"That's the fun of it!" she whispered loudly. "Come outside with me! There's a whole bunch of fireflies out right now!" Jamie pinched the bridge of their muzzle. "First of all, quit yelling," they said, lowering their voice significantly. "Second of all, you're lucky that I like fireflies. You'd be dead right now if it wasn't for that." Jackie didn't respond and instead yanked Jamie to their paws.

It was horribly terrifying padding through the creaky, small, old house. "Any second now..." they would think. "Any second now, Dad is going to come out of his room and catch us."

"It's a miracle that Mom and Dad haven't woken up," they whispered, elbowing their sister harshly. Jackie grinned. "It's a miracle you're being fun!" she exclaimed quietly. Grumbling under their breath, she slunk out of the house behind their little sister. This was a disaster.

Just before the siblings exited the front door, Jamie glanced at the clock. 2 AM. They sighed loudly. "Great," she groaned. Jackie, who had flounced far into the field in front of their house, jumped about. "It IS great!" she yelled happily. Jamie shushed her loudly, to no avail. Their sister continued to run around in circles in the dark, chasing after the small balls of light that buzzed about in the air.

They trotted after their sister. As soon as they felt the warm, summer breeze on their face, everything was just a little less scary. Breaking the rules could be okay sometimes... Right?

Jamie began to giggle as she chased after Jackie, who was catching fireflies like a pro left and right in her paws. Even the rule follower had to admit -- this was pretty fun. Glancing behind them, the siblings' house was nearly a speck on the hill that seemed so far away.

"Maybe we should head back, Jackie," they said cautiously. "We're pretty far away." Jackie ignored her response. Jamie turned around and squinted for their sister. All of a sudden, everything stopped. Jackie was teetering on the edge of the rocks that their Father had warned them over and over again not to play on. In shock, they stumbled over their own feet as they haphazardly ran to Jackie.

Just as Jamie reached Jackie, she fell. Jamie watched in horror as their sister screamed for help as she fell and fell and fell... Until she reached the water.

--- 8 months later ---

"Excuse me?" they asked, narrowing their eyes. The male cleared his throat and stood up taller. "I said," he started, venom coursing through his words. "You won't do it. That's just not like you." Their eye twitched. Jackie's voice echoed in her head. "It's a miracle you're being fun!" Jackie echoed in her head. "I think..." they started out. "That you should shut up. And that I can do whatever I want." Jackie's soul cheered vividly inside their head.

Larry's eyes widened. "What happened to you, Jamie?" he asked, his voice angry. "You used to be so nice and cool. Now you're-" Jamie's eyes flashed. "Now I stick up for myself and have my own voice. Now I don't care what you say or what you want me to do. Now I do what feels right," they said in a rush, taking a step toward Larry with every word.

"I don't have to listen to you, and I never had to. I wish someone would have told me that sooner. I wish I didn't have to go through-" they shouted, their words being swallowed. Larry blinked at them with shock and pity in his eyes. He stopped talking and looked down.

--- 4 more months later --

Jamie sat tiredly on the porch of their house. They watched the scenery with dull eyes. Hills of lost childhood memories sprawled out before them. Sniffling quietly, Jamie wrapped their tail around themselves.

After quite a few minutes, the now only sibling stood up slowly. A jar balanced on their head, Jamie walked out to the empty field. Mom and Dad had held their own thing with Jamie. Their own way of grieving Jackie. But this was her way. This was Jackie and their way. It always would be.

Like every year, Jamie caught as many fireflies as they could in that jar. And like every year, she could have sworn she heard Jackie's laugh -- just out of her reach. It hurt, but it was relieving. It itched a scratch she couldn't ever quite reach.

Once Jamie could no longer fit any more fireflies, they carried it to the rocks where... They gulped. "I miss you," they said quietly. "So do our fireflies." They set down the jar on the edge of the rock. Jamie laid down beside the jar, refusing to look over the edge of the granite that had betrayed their sister. Just like every year, they closed their eyes. Just like every year, they could feel fur that wasn't theirs against their side. Just like every year, they fell asleep to their sister's soft breathing that couldn't possibly be there... Right?

[Fuscontidox]

username; Fuscontidox
name; Harper
gender; Female
prompt;

[【Ｗｉｌｄｆｉｒｅ】]

-snip-

[deleting all my old posts]

[Grey_Hoodie]

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username; Grey_Hoodie
name; If
gender; nonbinary
[floats between various pronouns, but
will be using he/him for this prompt]
prompt; [1000/1000]
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“Play me a game, won’t you?”

Rivulets of smog tumbled around the space, building up hazy walls that seemed to extend into the infinite and yet stand close and tight and contained. Beneath the kit’s paws was his city, set aflame in response to the plague and burning in brilliant reds and oranges in stark contrast to the night’s obsidian hue. Towers of smoke billowed up from mounds of collected decay, colliding with the space’s floor and cascading across its belly to obscure the kit’s gaze back down to earth.

Somewhere down among the rubble, his body was pitched over a bucket with a vile sickness pulsing its way through his body and pulverizing the last of his essence. His ethereal form gave another waver, flickering in and out of existence, trapping memories and thoughts in another far-off time and place unlike and yet uncannily similar to this one. He was still in the process of fading, then. How unfortunate was he that instead of crossing over peacefully like everyone else, he was stuck waiting in a realm between life and death.

“If you keep on dillydallying, you’re going to miss the chance of a lifetime.”

The voice cackled to itself like it had made the universe’s best joke, charming notes reverberating around the air for a moment before cutting off and disappearing completely. A closed mouth and mystifying stare greeted the kit when his eyes blinked back into focus on his surroundings. Before him stood a table, wisps of smoke curling up and away from it. It was unusually solid compared to the rest of the environment, and there was a chess board set up on top of it, white pieces nearest the kit.

Beyond the table was the distorted manifestation of the voice. Its image danced in a phantom breeze, colors seeping out from its side to meld with the surrounding fog and its shape morphing between a thousand faces and bodies. It seemed content to settle most often on an older version of the kit’s self with a troubling grin splattered across its face. It leaned forward, poising itself over the chessboard, and with a twitch of its head, beckoned the kit forward.

The kit sat heavily, glazed eyes peering down over the game before meeting the other being’s gaze. “What chance?” He asked. The creature offered a smarmy smirk, lips curling to show off elongated teeth and blackened eyes creasing into threatening slits. It turned slightly, a tumble of new faces washing over its figure before resettling on the kit’s likeness, gaze falling onto the burning city below, and with a breathy sigh, it spoke.

“It is not often that fate loses control of itself, and as a gatekeeper stationed in between the realms of life and death, it often falls to me to return some form of balance to the world. Or rather, it falls to you. I just provide the ultimatum and act accordingly.”

The kit gaped and the spirit’s eyes crinkled in amusement. What exactly was he being asked to do? A feeling of unease sat heavily on the kit’s shoulders, but before he could question the spirit, it snickered to itself and continued on.

“Before you get any ideas, you have no choice in the matter. You will have to make a decision. Now, not only will your choice affect your own life, it will also affect all those that still remain on the earth.

I’m offering to play a game with you. Upon winning, I will give you back your life, free of illness, and bestow onto you an extensive knowledge of medicine that only upon adulthood can you retain. However, if you choose not to play, you will pass on and take with you tenfold that which would have died in the time taken for you to reach adulthood. Whoever still yet lives will be cured completely of the sickness destroying your home and no harm will come to them in any future epidemics.”

The smoke continued to shift around them, wafting around the space like silk. The weight of dread was becoming overwhelming. How many people would be lost based on his decision? Would he be blamed for whatever conclusion he came to? Chewing the inside of his cheek, the kit closed his eyes. He was missing something, right? But he couldn’t even begin to think of what it might be. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to make the right decision here.

The kit glanced down at the board, tilting his head slightly as though that might clear the new blurriness infecting his vision. He wasn’t overly skilled in any sort of game, least of all chess. The kit clenched his jaw shut before he could say anything stupid. He needed to think about this. To him, the options felt weighed in one direction over the other, egging him on to compete with the spirit rather than cause complete destruction to his home. Why was that? And what would happen if he couldn’t win?

“What if I lose?” The kit mumbled, biting his tongue in regret as soon as the words left him.

“All penalties apply.”

The kit furrowed his brows, golden gaze glaring up at the gatekeeper as he took a seat before the board. The creature’s faces shifted again, but a disjointed smirk still managed to present itself throughout the chaotic change. What wasn’t he being told? The kit shook out his fur, certain he wouldn’t get anything else from the spirit. He’d already been presented with his two options.

“Tick, tock.”

It chuckled.

What did he want to do? Did he really want to send off so many people without even trying to save them? It would guarantee that the rest of them would never suffer again. But what if he lost the game? Then they’d still perish and he wouldn’t be able to help anyone left. What should he do?

“I’ll play,” the kit choked

The gatekeeper snickered, undeniably pleased with itself.

“Your move.”

[Dia.]

I realized there are a few typos in my entry, but it is too late to fix it?

[katsue]

Please judge this competition asap, thank you! c:

[iBrevity]

winner !!!


I have stepped in to judge this competition in naumachy's stead c: thank you everyone for being so wonderfully patient!


now -- choosing a winner proved a harder task than I expected. you all came up with some incredible ideas, and it was amazing how different everyone's forms were. this prompt allowed a fascinating look into a developing character's adolescence, and honestly I had so much fun reading through these forms.


on that topic, I would love to award HMs to the following users:
76heart
chunkypeanutbutter
Lloril
feyghost
irina
Sραяκғαℓℓ


and the winner is... Grey_Hoodie!

If's character was completely captivating. posing an impossible choice (with all available outcomes looking similarly bleak) was a really interesting take on the prompt too. I felt like I knew this kid when I got done reading, that I could sympathize with their seemingly inevitable decision -- but most of all I just wanted him to win. I was so intrigued by If that honestly, I really wanted to know if he won. that you could achieve suspense like that in under 1000 words is just superb. congratulations!


again, thank you to everyone for being so patient, and well done on all these lovely stories <3

[【Ｗｉｌｄｆｉｒｅ】]

Thanks for the honorable mention! And congratulations to the other winners!

[Grey_Hoodie]

Wow, thank you so much!! I'm really excited to develop If's story further, and I'm so happy that you enjoyed his character ^^

Congratulations to HM winners as well!!