100 One-shot Challenge- Posting allowed- COMPLETE!

[frankie (dup)]

Genre: Fantasy
Word count: 941
Follow up: It's not really a follow up, but it contains mentions of this.

Characters:

Name: Renae Abe Nia
Gender: Female
Age: 15
Hair color: Dark ginger
Eye color: Pale green
Role: Protagonist


The salty air smelled just as calming as before, and Renae liked tat no matter what changed, the beach would stay the same.
The beach had to be her second favorite spot, though it was soon to be her first, the books in the library were being moved to a different one, to make room for a skate park.

Stupid things, she thought. Sure, skateboarding looked fun, but tearing down a library to make room for one? Silly
She sighed and kicked the sand watching as the ocean-side breeze lifted it up and carried it away, sprinkling it over the waves.
Renae stood and watched, arms crossed, and finally, she sat down and just trailed her hand in the water, thinking.
She was a quiet girl, mainly the type that kept to the library and her house. She went outside, she went to the playground, but found herself turning down every offer by the younger kids who wanted to play, no matter how much it hurt. Renae just wasn't social.

After a wile, Renae rose to feet and walked up the beach, searching her pockets for some money to buy something at the concession.
Good, a twenty dollar bill. Renae handed it over to the person at the front and sat at the back of the beach with a snow cone now in her hand.

Se finished and tossed the wrapper in the garbage, and flinched away from a ray of sand.
Little kids, she thought with an eye roll, continuing to walk.
Not a half hour through her walk along the beach, Renae stumbled over something and heard whatever it was slide out of its hiding place in the sand
"Ooh! Pretty!"
Renae could barely hear the voice through the sand, but she propped herself up o one elbow upon hearing it.
In front of her was a dark haired girl wit blue eyes, in her hand was a flat disk that appeared to be made of tiger eye, several runes carved on the edge.
Renae frowned at the object Something was off about it, and then the girl spotted her in the sand.

"Oh!" She said. "Is this yours?" Without waiting for an explanation, she shoved it into Renae's hands and waved. "Bye!" The little girl ran back to play some sort of game with her friends. Probably something to do with being dolphins, ans they constantly ran into the water and moved their legs up and down together.

With a sigh, Renae sat down and inspected the dis. It looked pretty old, but when she wiped away the dust, the runes were clean cut and the surface was shiny.
She smiled a little at the girl and tucked the disk into her jacket. Whoever owned it wouldn't be looking forit, it might have even been old enough to go to the museum.

Renae waved the thought away. If she was to pass it in to the museum, they would stare. The thing was in mint condition! Surely not old enough to be there.
She sighed and headed home, sliding the disk onto her desk and falling asleep, she dreamed of the library and it reopening.

Renae awoke in the morning to her brother grinning down at her like an idiot and she jerked back. "Uh... hi?"
He snorted and nodded for her to get out of bed.
She glanced at the clock and waved him out, getting dressed and stepping outside.

"It's only ten o'clock," she muttered, being more of a let-me-sleep-forever kind of person, Renae didn't like being woken up.
Her brother beamed. "The liiiiibray is back!" He said, being just as dorky as Renae herself.
Now she was awake.
Renae actually jumped into the air and her fist bumped into the door frame. "Oh, ouch," she said, shaking it out.

Her brother ran off to go the library, presumably, and Renae grabbed the disk from her desk.
As her hand slid along he edge, she realized something.

There were stripes on her hand.
They were't really tiger stripes, just a stripe or two that were identical to the ones on the disk.
Renae bit her lips and pulled on some gloves, deciding to hide the stripes.
She stuck the disk in her jacket again and left for the library. The librarian was something of a historian, and would probably know what the heck this thing was.

Along the walk, Renae grew giddy with excitement. The library was open! A smile grew on her face as they drew nearer, and at the front of the library, what her brother told her was confirmed.
A sign sat in front of the library, proudly displaying the words, GRAND RE-OPENING in big, black, font.

Inside the library was a table stashed with cookies and other treats. Her brother immediately went there, stating that his book finding skills were better when he ate.

Renae rolled her eyes and walked p to the front desk.
"Do you know where the history files are?" She asked, sliding the disk in front of the librarian.
She stared at it for a while and shakily looked up at Renae. "Did you... dream the library opening?"

Renae froze. That was random. "Well, yeah," she said. "Guess my wish came true!"
The librarian's eyes fell on the gloves and went back to the disk, and she beamed. "No need to!" She said. "This belongs to my niece, thank you for finding it!" Se slipped a five dollar bill into Renae's hand and went back to her work, but as Renae left to get a book, she couldn't help but see the wild look in the librarian's eyes.

[frankie (dup)]

Genre: Fantasy
Word count: 842
Follow up: ---
Characters:

Name: Christopher Leah Gordon
Gender: Male
Age: 15
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Pale green
Role: Protagonist

Three were dead. It had been confirmed not all too long after Christopher arrived, and the fact sent chills down his spine. Fifteen. Fifteen of them had survived that shipwreck and the realization that he and Captain Hopkins could have died as well left him shaking in his boots.
His head felt better, though the occasional sharp stab of pain and flash of white still occasionally flared behind his eyes.
When he had recovered his strength, the living crew members had helped him down to the ocean, and as he got better, his visits became more and more frequent.

Christopher had a lot of things on his mind, and he'd figured that a walk down the beach couldn't do any harm.
Oh, how wrong he was.

He was walking calmly when something caught his foot and he fell forwards, the sand and water rushing up to greet him.
Christopher tumbled into the water and hit his arm on something.
Water filled his mouth and nose, and he turned around, coughing and spitting.

"Clumsy," he grumbled, propping himself up and pulling himself out of the water. careful not to scratch his hand on the pebbles and shells.
With a groan, Christopher turned to see what he had tripped over, and his breath hitched.
At his feet was a board fro their ship. It wasn't just a normal plank, either, because he could see the top of an S engraved on the board.

The Shadow Buck... the word was now foreign to Christopher, and it was an unspoken rule among the surviving crew that the fallen ship was not to be spoken of.

He sniffed and kicked the board back into the waves, deciding that it was best not to let anyone else see the board.
Christopher returned to complete insanity.
No, it was nothing bad, and soon Christopher was just as excited.

A young man from their group held something in his hand.
A calendar.
It wasn't soggy. It wasn't charred. It wasn't dirty, and it was marked, June 18th.
Civilization.

Christopher's hands shook and he stared at the calendar as it was passed around, and he bit his lip.
It had't been as short of a time as he'd thought since he'd been stuck here. He was fifteen now, had turned so today.
"Happy birthday, me!" He said, smiling. There was no sadness behind his words. The news of civilization was the best birthday gift, and he could only hope that his birthday would be celebrated when he reached home.

Christopher grinned at the thought, and he followed the crew member who had apparently found the calendar.
They walked for hours, but the pain in Christopher's legs was non-existent, and he felt as if all the pain had been erased from his head.

Christopher finally spotted a spark of light ahead, then another. And another.
Street lights, he thought warmly, as several more of the small lights lit up, leaving the town ahead looking like a fantasy, or perhaps a giant firefly.

A small pair of lights illuminated the path ahead and Christopher beamed and ran towards it.
That was a mistake.
The two lights lurched forwards and he screamed and jumped back.

In front of him was a bear like creature with glowing orange eyes, identical to the lights of the town.
The sparks made Christopher shake as he jumped back from the creature's grasps for his throat, and with each ear piercing screech, his fear increased.

Fear was a good thing i battle, though, and with adrenaline pumping, he took a cocky swing at the beast.
He missed by a mile, but then the creature fell to the round anyways, revealing a man standing behind it.

"Hello, travelers," he said, smiling. "My name is Faidal."
Faidal? Christopher thought. Weird name, but he supposed living out here didn't exactly give you access to modern names.
"I'm glad you survived that Rire attack. Many don't," he said, flicking his foot at the body.

Christopher gulped and followed Faidal to the town, where the crew was greeted.
"Seems like a nice bunch," Captain Hopkins uttered, and this was soon proved to be right as the town fed them, gave them a place to sleep, and patched their wounds.

In the weeks following, the crew liveda good life among the group, and after another month or so, they led them to a ship, and set sail.
The crew was releaved to have their feet on the wooden boards of the deck once again and finally, they reached port.

Christopher and the crew searched for his parents, and finally, the reunited.

"You're alive!" His mother siad, and ouled him into a tight hug, while his little sister sang a joyful 'Happy Birthday.'
"Okay, you're choking me," Christopher snorted, and pulled away from his mother.
They headed inside and waved off the crew, thanking them for their help.
Captain Hopkins promised to visit, and to tell Christopher when her next expedition was undrway.
The family headed inside to their new house, and enjoyed fresh birthday cake.

[frankie (dup)]

Genre: Fantasy.
Word count: 1113
Follow up: ---

Characters:

Name: Ben Mike Norris
Gender: Male
Age: 12
Hair color: Brown
Eye color: Grey
Role: Protagonist

Name: Arthur Kelly Jones
Gender: Male
Age: 12
Hair color: Blond
Eye color: Brown
Role: Deuratagonist


Ben expected the days leading up to the siege to be calm, but they anything but.
t was training, training, training, from six am to eight pm, and the were sent to bed at ten.
Ben went to sleep every night feeling uncomfortable, but sleep always overtook him quickly, being so exhausted.

Arthur woke him up with a rough shaking in the morning, and Ben did nothing but slap in n the face and try to go back to sleep. "G away," he muttered, and buried his face in the pillow. "I don't wanna train."

"It's ten in the morning."
That woke him up. Ben shot straight up and stared at Arthur, grey eyes wide.
"It's only going until five today. It starts in an hour."
He beamed at the idea of only seven hours of training instead of the far more grueling fourteen, but his stomach dropped into his shoes when he remembered that today was the day the rebel group was going to take the castle.

"Dude, you okay?" Arthur's concerned brown eyes were aimed half at the floor, and half at Ben.
"I'm fine," Ben said. "But something's been nagging at me. We're twelve, and they expect us to lay siege to a castle. How does that work?"

Arthur shrugged. "I've been training for a long time, and you... and you... You know your way around the castle"
Ben shivered. He did know the way, but the responsibility of leading a rebel group through his own castle to destroy it was already swamping him, as was the ever more daunting prospect in playing a part in Rosehart's destiny whatever that was.
He sighed and smoothed his hair back. "Let's go and get our minds off this," he suggested, voice cracking. "They give us free time, let's use it."
He forced a smile and shrugged.

Arthur nodded, slowly, but it was a yes none the less. "Alright. C'mon."


Arthur's idea of fun turned out to be more training, but in this case, it was something Ben was good at and actually liked.
Running.

Many of the town kids stereotyped the royal family as living large and lazy, but this was not the case- at the very least, not with Ben.
Ben was a runner. Every day he would go out and run for at least a mile, but he was still small and scrawny. After the grueling training, though, his skin was though and he actually had muscles now. He'd been hoping for an eight-pack when he got into his pajamas, but no such luck.

Artur wasn't super good at running. He as clumsy and often stumbled, and didn't have the best endurance, either.
"Slow down!" He protested. "t's not a race!
"IIIIII don't caaaaare!" Ben sang, and only picked up his pace.

He reached the two mile mark a few minutes before Arthur, and then they turned and ran back just in time for training.

It was more grueling than the other two days before- one when Ben arrived, and another the day after, but it was much shorter, and they were allowed to relax for a while until... it.

When 'it' came, the rebel group was called to the main room and the plan was explained. Be would guide them through the castle, and the rebel group would threaten to torch it if their opposers didn't back down. If they didn't, the rebel group made it clear not to hesitate to burn the castle down.

"These people are hardcore," Ben muttered as sticks were passed out to each of them.
Ben stared at it. It was the strangest torch he'd ever seen. One end was black and felt like rubber, while he other was blue and seemed to made of he same substance. The middle felt very strange, like metal combined with plastic and wood.

He was also given a simple lighter, and told to to light the stick yet, though a boy a ear or two older than him did so, and was immediately hosed.
"Out," the person clutching the hose said, and with a grumble, the boy threw the smoking torch to the ground.

Ben felt sorry for him, but the display had given him a vague understanding of how the torches worked.
The blue end lit, and blazed bright and hot, when the water hit it, it went out immediately, not even a second of life for the flame t gasp.

Ben gingerly held his and once everyone had theirs, the group set off.
They reached the castle, but it was unguarded, to their relief, and quiet when they stepped in.
"Is this a trap?" Arthur's voice as the meekest he'd ever heard it, and Ben shrugged. "Dunno. Wanna pair up?"
Arthur nodded glumly, and they headed down the corridor together. The rule was that Ben would pair up with one or two rebels, and if he ran into another, he'd pair up with them.

Suddenly, the smell of smoke wafted into Ben's nostrils and he shared a brief glance with Arthur before lighting his torch.
As he took a tapestry- his favorite one, sadly and stepped back as the flames ate up the tapestry with their deadly tongues.

"So how does it work?" Ben asked as he slashed at another tapestry.
Arthur rolled his eyes. "You really don't get out much, do you?"
Ben snorted and shrugged, and Arthur continued.

"These are special torches. The fire dancers use them on floors made out of the same stuff as the middle. The blue end light. The black one doesn't, and if a spark touches the center or the black, nothing happens. If you extinguish the flame, you have to water it down as well or it'll just light again."

Ben nodded and spotted a man clothed in black running up to them, stark against the orange flames.

Ben and Arthur braced for a fight, but beamed when they saw that the man as on their side. "We won," he said proudly. "The war, I mean. They surrendered I think the sorcerers we got to help were useful."

Ben pumped his fist into the air and nearly lit his hair on fire. "Ga!" He said, lowering the torch.
Arthur laughed. Hard.

The days following the win, Ben didn't know what to do, but Arthur calmed him down him by punching him in the shoulder and calling him a dummy. "You're going to live with me, duh," he said. "You and the rest of your innocent family."

Ben smiled and returned the punch.
The next day he teleported for the second time, and laughed as his siblings ran around shocked at the idea of teleportation in Arthur's backyard.

[frankie (dup)]

A:N Number sixty! Yay!
Since this has gone on for sixty days, I'd like to say that I'd like anonomous readers to post! Got a headcanon? Share it! Do you ship two characters? Share it! I love hearing opinions and ideas, as well as therories. Contrary to popular belief, writers can't summon up lions to eat you if you make them mad.

Genre: Fantasy.
Word count: 1001
Follow up: Deserter

Characters:

Name: Meredith Waldo Gabriel
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Hair color: Blond
Eye color: Green
Role: Protagonist

Name: Brad Cassidy Normand
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Hair color: Brown
Eye color: Light brown
Role: Deuteragonist


Meredith kept her hood up, the blue-violet hood cast a similar colour of shadow over her face, framing her blond hair, which was pulled back in a bun.
She tried to blend in and was pretty sure she was doing a pretty good job of it, wearing a long sleeved dark green shirt and a leather necklace.

She was on a mission today, a mission to steal, and the market was her target.
The thought crossed Meredith's mind a few times that she being too quiet, and her plan of thievery wold be plain for the market to see, as joyful voices pierced the air, while Meredith stayed silent, worried that she's slip up and say something about her mission.

Perhaps mission wasn't the right word for it. She hadn't been ordered to do anything, this was of her own accord after her parents had disappeared overseas. leaving her in charge of her younger brother.
With a sigh, Meredith smoothed her hood back and stepped cautiously over to a stand with glittering jewellery. She was about to snag one when a tiny detail caught her eye.

The necklaces were fake.
Meredith pulled her hand back with a grumble and scanned the prices above her head. Goodness, those things were expensive.
She sighed and took another look. From the looks of them, the necklaces were plastic, polished plastic, and nice looking, but they were plastic, and this was a scam.
A memory flashed in her mind- one of talking to her brother about thievery, and he had excitedly said 'like Robin Hood?!'
She felt like Robin Hood now. A lingering thought touched her mind that she should return some of the money when she stole it and decided to leave some on the doorsteps of people who needed it, so they wouldn't wind up poor.

With a quick jolt, Meredith grabbed the jar in her hands and took off running, shouts erupting behind her.
She held it tight, not wanting to drop the fragile thing, for she couldn't afford to stop, and simply focused on running.
The wind whipped her hair, and soon she entered the woods.

A grin spread across her face. The woods was a safe point to Meredith, a point in the dangerous world of thieves where she could duck in and lose whoever was chasing her.
She relaxed after twenty minutes without a sound except for the usual, and opened the jar, counting out money.

She separated it into two piles and slipped one-half into her bag, the other back into the jar.
Meredith looked up to the sky. The evening had overtaken the pale blue, and she decided that the best time to sneak back would be during the night.

So there she stayed for a few hours, watching the moon climb up the sky.
When she figured she could go, Meredith held the jar to her chest and snuck out of the woods, leaving money on the doorsteps of the smallest and dirtiest houses.
Why am I doing this? She wondered. I got this fair and square! Well, maybe not entirely fair, but she still questioned her actions for a while until she shook off the silly thoughts.

When she was finished, Meredith rose to her feet and prepared to go back to her house when a hand roughly grabbed her arm and yanked her back.
Meredith's breath hitched and she shakily looked up to see one of the men she'd stolen from earlier. "Found you," he hissed and pulled her back.
Meredith's feet skittered on the steps and she crashed down, wincing as she landed on her elbow.

"Where's the money?" H hissed in her ear, and despite her fear, Meredith back-handed him and wiggled free, darting across the ground.
"I'm going to get you!" He snarled, and Meredith shivered. She tried to convince herself that the man's threats were empty and had no meaning.

Branches slapped her face.
Empty threats, empty threats...
Rocks skittered beneath her feet and she could feel the blood snaking away from her toes.
Empty threats, empty threats...

Finally, her foot caught on something and she pitched forwards, slamming her face into the ground.
Blood spurted from the wound and Meredith yipped, turning around and covering her nose. It was probably broken, by how much it hurt.

She groaned and rolled over, squeezing her eyes shut.
Empty threats, empty threats...

"Need some help?"
Meredith blinked away tears and wiped away blood, then looked up to see a boy her age, with light brown hair and the same colour of eyes. He was tall and slim, but was scrawny and looked like a gust of wind would blow him over.
Meredith coughed. "Ya think?"

The boy smirked and helped her up, passing her a tissue, which Meredith gratefully pinched her nose with.
"Don't let that guy get to ya," he said, leaning against a tree. "He just hates people who could catch him in his little scam." The boy laughed and smiled at Meredith. "So, your name is...?"
"Meredith. A lot of people call me Merry, though."

The boy grinned and held out his hand. "The name's Brad, Normand. Some people call me Normal, as a joke, because I'm not exactly normal and my last name's Normand. Get it?" He grinned at her and then tipped her head down. "It's a myth that you should tip your head back," he said. "I'd say down is the best bet. Works for me!"

Meredith sighed and followed him, then found herself in a clearing with several hours.
"So," she began. "What do I do?"
Brad turned to face her. "Oh, hey Merry! I'll introduce you tomorrow, but here, you're among other thieves."
He held out a hand to her and Meredith took it. Brad shook it furiously before letting go and grinning. "See ya tomorrow!" He ran over to one of the tents and ducked inside.
Meredith sighed and rolled her eyes, then ducked into an empty tent to sleep for the night.

[frankie (dup)]

A:N I apologize for the lack of one yesterday. I went to a movie and didn't have enough time to finish my one-shot, but I did get to five hundred words, which is why there's one so early. (It's like, 10:20 AM where I am. Don't know when you're reading this.)
Genre: Fantasy.
Word count: 948
Follow up: ---

Characters:

Name: Meredith Waldo Gabriel
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Hair color: Blond
Eye color: Green
Role: Protagonist

Name: Brad Cassidy Normand
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Hair color: Brown
Eye color: Light brown
Role: Deuteragonist



Meredith found that her life as a thief was much better and easier when she joined the little group of thieves.
Though maybe little wasn't the right word for it. There were about forty thieves in all, ranging from thirteen to their early twenties.
There were a few people who were thirty or over, but not a lot. Brad explained that it was because they only let in adults they trusted, for fear that they'd be reported.

Meredith visited her little brother at home, and whenever she snuck out to steal, she returned with more and more, having been taught by the other thieves the best ways to swipe as much as she could while staying hidden.
She sat near a river, dangling her legs is the cool water, pant legs rolled up.

She placed her head in her hands and sighed. The marketplace was empty. Everyone was at The Festival of Lyr.
Celebrations for it began on the summer solstice and lasted three days. The details of it were fuzzy, as Meredith never paid much attention to the history of her town. It just didn't seem helpful, and it wasn't a skill she needed for thievery.

She liked it more when she got outside for Phys ed. That was a skill she could use. Plus, Meredith's competitive spirit enjoyed leaving everyone in the dust. A bit of running around and swiping things would do that to you.

"Hey!" She turned around to see Brad. His brown hair was slicked back and his clothes were scruffy. In his hands, he held a loaf of bread. "Want some?" He taunted, waving it in her face.
Meredith lunged forwards and grabbed a chunk, grinning smugly at Brad.

"Jeesh. Cocky, aren't we?" He grabbed for the bread and Meredith jumped back, nearly falling in the water, the only thing stopping her from taking a chilling swim was the fact that she skidded on the rocks.
Brad laughed and tossed her another chunk. Meredith caught it, but she fell back into the water, holding her arms up to stop the food from being soaked.

"You are a jerk," she muttered, standing up and flicking water at Brad's face.
"You're stupid," he said and leant against a tree.
Meredith stepped forwards and gave him a shove, knocking him over.

"Want to go back?" She asked, and Brad grunted but nodded anyway.

They turned around and started heading back to the thief's camp, or, as many called it, Camp Amon.
"Why Camp Amon?" She asked, stepping over a fallen log.
Brad shrugged. "Eh. Some thief joined. He said that Amon meant 'the hidden one' in some language. Either he didn't say what language it was, or I'm forgetting."

Meredith guessed it was the second one. Brad didn't exactly have the best memory. He'd be talking to you one second, then take a pause and forget what he was talking about, or see something and leave, then never return to the conversation.
He was weird that way.

Brad hopped over a log and into the camp.
It wasn't a big place. You could walk straight through it and never know that it was a camping grounds. The trees were bent over and created a shady dome over it, and tangles of brambles surrounded the camp, with made it look a little too perfect, even though Meredith had seen many areas like the one she was standing in right now.

She smiled and stretched her arms into the air. It was nice to be standing in a shady place during the summer solstice, especially when The Festival of Lyr was taking place- both preparations and celebrations were loud and took place under the relentless sun.

Meredith sat down and stretched out, relaxing, away from the celebrations, when her calm was ruined when a boy about seventeen ran into the camp, eyes wild.
"There's a traitor here!" He gasped. "I saw 'em! They were leaving to report us! I SAW THEM!" He shook with each word, and the entire camp rose to their feet in one, swift, movement.

Once everyone was ready, the boy turned and ran, the camp following him.
They spotted bootprints in the dirt and mud, and occasionally saw a flash of someone running through the woods.

After a while, the stopped near the Guards' Post, watching a girl about nineteen shakily step up and begin speaking.
Meredith hung on to every word the girl said.
"Hello, officer! My name's Melva, and I have information you might want."

The officer raised an eyebrow. "What might that be?"
Melva smiled. "I know where- let's say, forty thieves are? They've evaded capture and are constantly recruiting new thieves. I pretended to join them so I could help you guys."

The officer smiled. "Good, good! Thank you, Melva. Where are these forty thieves? Can you lead me to them?"
Melva grinned. "There's no need," she said. "They're right in those bushes."
She pointed at the exact bushes the group was hiding in, and the chase began.

---

Feet drummed against black soil and no one dared to turn around, for fear that they'd be slowed down and caught.
They ran for a long time, only slowing to cross rivers

They ran for several hours until finally the footsteps behind them ceased, and they waited anxiously for a long time, ready to run in they needed to.
When it became clear that there was no one chasing them chasing them anymore, they headed back, and just sat and waited for the shock to wear off.
When it finally did, Meredith let out a long, shaky, exhale and fell back into the shade, trying to relax after the exhilarating chase.

[frankie (dup)]

Genre: Fantasy.
Word count: 956
Follow up: This is story-based, and I'll probably make a roleplay.

Characters:

Name: Ronald Laura Peta
Gender: Male
Age: 13
Hair color: Light ginger
Eye color: Green
Role: Protagonist

Ronald sat on a bench in the park, the cool shade of the willow tree above his head was a welcome escape from the searing hot sun of the summer.
"This is nice," he said, to absolutely no one. He stretched back and let his fingers brush the cool wood, feeling at the ridges in the bark.
"Hello!"

Ronald blinked. Did someone just greet him? No, he was the only one at the park.
Right?

No. Ronald looked up to see a girl a year or two older than him standing there, a half-smile spread across her face. "I'm Shaquila!" She said with a smile, likely not caring that Ronald was a complete stranger. "You are?"
Ronald started. "Umm... my name's Ronald?"

Shaquila grinned. "Good! C'mon!" She skipped off and Ronald continued to simply stare ahead, and then she facepalmed.
Ronald expected her to say something along the lines of, 'oops, I thought you were someone else! Bye, sorry!'

But no such thing happened. "Oops!" She said. "I forgot to tell you! Your mum signed you up for a summer camp, and I'm the recruiter!"
She proudly flashed Ronald a badge that read, CAMP ATA in big, bold, print.

Ronald relaxed a little. Everything made a lot more sense now. Signing him up for some random summer camp was the exact thing his mother would do- it happened ever single year, and Ronald knew from the computer's history of summer camp web page views that this year would be no different.

He followed Shaquila along the streets, a little frustrated at what was probably his eighth random camp, but glad that Shaquila was not crazy and just... forgetful.

"Come on!" She said, gesturing at a large house before stepping in.
Ronald glanced up. There was a sign above the house, and in the same, big, bold letters, it read CAMP ATA. Underneath that was the cheesy slogan, A camp for the gifted!

Oh yeah, Ronald thought. Mum would totally buy that.
When he stepped in, he expected to see a bunch of six-year-olds running around like wild beasts, but instead was greeted by kids ranging from tweens into their late teens. The oldest he saw was probably nineteen or twenty.

A tall am stepped into the room of ver confused looking kids and began to speak, slowly and carefully, as if he were addressing very young children.

"Listen to me," he said. "I have very important things to tell you, and they cannot go unheard by your ears. Listen up, or you will not survive."

Ronald smiled. Official best camp, right here, he thought. It'll probably be something cool.

"You are all special," the man said. "Some of you might notice that you are... different than your peers. aster? Stronger? Smarter? You get the point, right?"

The entire room became very still. The excited buzz at the man's earlier statement- which they had taken as an exaggeration, had turned to whisperings and quiet gasps.
Special... the word rung in Ronald's head. This was way weird. People at school were shocked by his speed, but laughed when he tried to jog- he couldn't do that, only run.

More shock came when the man went up to individual people and spoke to them. Ronald didn't know what he said with his quiet, slow, voice but it made people scream, gasp, and one person even turned around and ran, only to find that the door outside would not open, despite it being a simple, swinging door.

Ronald knew what all the panic was about when the man spoke to him. "You," he whispered. "You are fast, aren't you? But you can't jog. That could be deadly, and you know it, don't you?"

That made him freeze and just stare blankly at the man in front of him with the long, slow voice.
He continued to stare until finally, the man relented from his task of completely freaking Ronald out and moved back to the 'stage' where he'd originally spoken.

"I bet you're all wondering how I know these things," he said, and Ronald managed a tiny, "well, duh..."

"It's because you're special!" He exclaimed. "And I'm special! Everyone in this room right now is special! You all have gifts, and a curse to accompany it."
Anarchy. Despite the man's calm voice, the entire room exploded into screams and some people pinched themselves, or banged their heads on the tables. Others told themselves multiple times that it was a dream.

"T-this is a dream, right? You're not real?"
Ronald winced. "If you're dreaming, we're having the same dream."

The person standing before him narrowed his eyes. "I don't believe you," he said, and then gave Ronald a hard punch in the shoulder.

"Ow!" Ronald couldn't help it. The punch he fired back at the boy's face was an automatic reaction, and he just barely managed to duck.

"S-sorry!" The kid backed up, eyes wild. "Really, really sorry!"
The man called the group to head through a door, and they followed, still shaking.

Behind the door the man had come from was a very cosy looking room and everyone scrambled for a spot.
"You were given gifts by someone who thought you could save us," the man said. "But then you were cursed. I don't know who it was, but I do know that only The Waters of Kama can cure you. Any questions?"

There were probably lots, but not a word escaped from a single person's mouth- they were too shocked.
"Good, good!" The man said. "Everybody find a room. you'll sleep here tonight, and preparations will begin tomorrow!"
Everyone was numb and just sat still for several minutes before finally getting to their feet and heading to their rooms.

[frankie (dup)]

Genre: Fantasy.
Word count: 864
Follow up: Choices

Characters:

Name: Tamela Barclay Vicky
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Hair color: Brown
Eye color: Grey
Role: Protagonist

Tamela lay under the shade of the tree. White blossoms dotted the branches like snow, despite it being nowhere near winter.
She sighed and stretched her arms back, running her hands across the ridges of the tree.
It was a hot day, and a boring one, too. Tamela could barely stand temperatures that were even a little higher than normal, and today was searing hot.

Tamela hadn't even bothered to check the weather forecast- when asked why she simply replied that she didn;t want to risk a heart attack.
She was sarcastic that was.

Tamela brushed her hair back and sat up, blinking slowly against the sun.
She knitted her eyebrows together and continued to stare. There was.. a bird in the sky. That was nothing new, but there seemed to be something off about it.
Then it hit her.
The bird was huge.

Not the just the normal bird big, either. This thing had to be about the size of a horse- or larger.
She bit her lip and scooted back. That thing could not be a good sign.
She thought briefly about calling her brother, and her hand even moved to her phone.
Her brother was a researcher and wold be overjoyed at the discovery of such a big bird.

But her hand slipped away from her pocket- or rather, jerked, as the bird came hurtling towards the park.

An involuntary yelp escaped from Tamela's mouth and she got to her feet, skittering back and banging her head against a branch.
She winced as her head hit and fell back into the tree, red and black spots dotting her vision.

Tamela managed to pull herself to her feet, and lurch forwards, but as she did, a splitting pain shot through her forehead and she fell again.
Shaking, she rose to her feet and started to run, when she felt pain shoot through her shoulders and her feet left the ground.

Tamela gasped as she was pulled upward, and kicked furiously at air, but she hit nothing, and there was nothing to hook on to.
She shuddered and looked up, and what she saw made her breath hitch.
She was being held in massive claws, rising higher and higher, far above the cherry blossom tree.

As if that wasn't enough, when she turned her head to look at her captor, she was greeted by a massive eagle. It was much larger than a horse, and a lion's tail swishing back and forth as the creature rose told her that this was not a new species.
It was a griffon.

Impossible! Tamela thought. Those things are fake! I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming...!
She shut her eyes and pinched her arm. Her eyes shot back open at the pain and she shuddered.

It's okay, she thought. That's not a... that's not a for sure way to tell if you're dreaming...
She closed her eyes again and tried to relax, which wasn't exactly easy.

"What are you doing?"
The voice jolted Tamela back to reality, and she cautiously turned around to see yet another surprise- the griffon stared at her with a look of curiosity- it was the one who had spoken.

She shivered and said, as calmly as she could, "I'm trying to wake up from this crazy dream."
She shut her eyes again and leant back, letting her legs drift. Her shoulders didn't hurt, maybe that was because she was dreaming. Tamela didn't dare remind herself that the talons were grasping her very loosely and had barely broken skin.

"This is no dream. You are awake, child."
The griffon's voice was soothing, even if the mere existence of it sent chills down her spine.

"Where are you taking me?" Tamela had to fight to keep her voice level, though she couldn;t stop it from trembling, no matter how many times she told herself that this was nothing but a dream.

"To magic," came the griffon's answer, and Tamela snorted.
"Could you get any more cliche?" She muttered, rolling her eyes.
The griffon chuckled. "Quite the sarcastic one, aren't we?"

The hairs on Tamela's neck rose. She didn't know that the massive thing would have heard her voice, and she tried to relax.

Random eagle takes you away and magic is a place now. Just your normal Saturday. This is normal.
It was the worst attempt Tamela made to convince herself- this was not normal, but it soon would be.

Finally, the griffon's flight slowed, and then it plummeted.

Tamela jerked forwards and her arms whipped around like a windmill, trying to steady herself with nothing.
The dip slowed and Tamela bounced a few times before settling again- this time on solid ground.

The claws unhooked from her shoulders and Tamela speedily rolled away. She locked eyes with the griffon, and it did the same to her.

"So, why am I here?" Tamela said, narrowing her eyes. This place- wherever it was, did not seem like 'magic.'
"I'll tell you in the morning," the griffon said. "Get some rest."
It slunk inside a stony hut, and with a small sigh, Tamela stepped into anoher, not exactly eager for what the next day would bring.

[frankie (dup)]

Genre: Fantasy.
Word count: 878
Follow up: Choices

Characters:

Name: Sigmund Regena Ashlynd
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Pale green
Role: Protagonist

Name: Kody Renee Ashlynd
Gender: Male
Age: 18
Hair color: Dark brown
Eye color: Green
Role: Deuteragonist

Name: Keegan Tolly Caleigh
Gender: Male
Age: 14
Hair color: Dark brown
Eye color: Dark green
Role: Deuteragonist


Sigmund sat on his bed, the cool wind from the window blew his air around. It wasn't long enough to impede his vision, but the swirls of hair dancing in his line of sight were still annoying.
After a little while, he could no longer stand it and closed the window.

With a sigh, Sigmund flopped back onto his bed and decided that the roof was very interesting.
He had been like this for several months- quiet, not really communicating with everyone and staying his room for the most part.
It was all because of the disappearance of his brother, Kody, a few months ago.

Sigmund and Kody had been close. Every single day they'd go into the backyard and score baskets. The net was pretty high, so Kody had taught Sigmund how to properly score a jump shot. Kody, being two years older and a lot taller, could easily score, and Sigmund would sometimes watch him raise the net to challenge himself.

Then, one day, biking home from school, his brother disappeared without a trace.
His bike was gone from the racks at school, but it was found nowhere. There weren't even bike marks on the trail.
His friends confirmed that they had seen him at school, and besides, Kody wasn't the type to skip out on school- he loved the place, and Sigmund often teased him for it.

But now, no jokes were made about Kody. He was mentioned, sure, but never 'I hope Kody comes home soon,' it was always something like 'Kody's going to be happy his team won the tournament!' they never mentioned his disappearance, except for subtle word choice and during phone calls.

A knock rapped on the door, and Sigmund slowly rose to his feet and strode towards it.
He opened it to see his friend, Keegan, standing there, holding a soccer ball.
"Wanna play?" He asked, half smiling.

Sigmund sighed and propped himself up against the doorframe. "Sure. I mean, I guess?"

Keegan lightly punched him on the shoulder. "Chin up, dude. He's fine, I can assure you."
Sigmund grunted. "No, you can't."
"Oh yes, I can."

Sigmund rolled his eyes. Keegan was great, but he was a little obnoxious and often thought he could anything and everything- including knowing for sure that Kody was okay.

He followed Keegan out the door and his mother grinned at him, glad to see him getting outside and at least trying to cope.
They walked for several minutes, and neither Keegan nor Sigmund said a thing until Sigmund lifted his feet from his very interesting shoes and looked at his surroundings.

"This isn;t the way to the field," he said, raising an eyebrow.
Keegan turned and smiled. "We're not playing soccer." As he said this, he chucked the ball away.

Sigmund groaned. This was so Keegan. "Then what are we doing?"
Keegan grinned, "Oh, you'll see. And you'll like it- scratch that, love it- you know what? Let's just say, no exaggeration, this will be the best day of your life."
"The 'best day of my life' will be when Kody comes home."
Keegan didn;t say anything to that. He had him there.

His friend bounded up to a door and knocked, three short, four long.
The door slowly creaked open and the next sound heard was that of Sigmund's jaw hitting the floor.
Standing there, holding the door open, was none other than Kody.

---

"Come in, come in!" Kody looked frantic, and his voice carried the same message, but Sigmund continued to simply stand there until Keegan yanked on his arm and lead him inside.
The house inside turned out to be roomy and cosy, and Keegan let go of Sigmund's arm before heading over to one of the velvet couches.

Sigmund stood in the same spot for another minute or two before slowly walking over to the couch and sitting down.
He sat blankly for a while before finally re-learning how to make his mouth move, and said, "ex-explanation, n-now."

Kody sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before sitting down. "Alright, fair enough. I suppose I do owe you an explanation."
"Oh, you don't say?" Sigmund said.

Kody smiled. Not a full one, just a simple half smile. "Nice to see that my brother is coming back."
"Explanation."
"Okay, okay!" Kody smiled. "So, the thing is, I got involved in something, and I got in way, way too deep. I promise you that I was leading no double life, and on my way home, someone stopped me. One of the people who I'd gotten involved with. They said they needed my help, and that they could make the tracks of my bike disappear. That person was Keegan."

Sigmund stayed silent at that news. Kody continued.
"Later, Keegan said that he was going to get you because he needed more help. So here you are," Kody sat back and waited for Sigmund's reaction.
"What is it that you got into?" He asked. His voice was low, but Kody heard him.
"I'll tell you later. You're dealing with enough right now."

Sigmund was about to object, but he shut his mouth.
"There's ice cream in the kitchen," Kody said.

Sigmund smiled. It was nice to have his brother back.

[frankie (dup)]

Genre: Fantasy.
Word count: 948
Follow up: ---

Characters:

Name: Nona Roxanna Linden
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Hair color: Dark ginger
Eye color: Blue
Role: Protagonist

Name: Alyce Vere Johnnie
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Hair color: Light brown
Eye color: Pale green
Role: Deuteragonist



Nona lived in a big family.
Big families were common in the cliff-side city of Cynd, but it didn't make it any less annoying to be the ninth-born child.
Many people could easily gauge that she was the ninth child in a family because of her name- Nona was traditionally given to the ninth born child, and the Linden family was well-known for following those traditions- they had named their first-born Baako, and the second Dwi.

It all just spiked from there, and Nona let a small smile creep onto her face. Her friend, Alyce, often complained about her own siblings- twelve of them ran around her house, and she was the fifth born.

Because the large families, classes were often a hassle to get through, and everyone was pushed together and bumping elbows. School pictures were even worse.

Nona thought about all of these things as she slipped on her jacket The blue-violet fabric was rough, but that was good for summer. It would stop the mosquitoes from feasting, and the material fit snuggly over the silver silk of her shirt.

She was planning to meet Alyce at the lake today, for a swim. Nora liked swimming, it was a good way to cool off and get away from the hot summer days.
She stepped outside, making sure that she was holding her bag with hr swim clothes, and headed outside, then down the road that would take her to the forest trail.

She managed to get through the crowds of people and finally stumbled onto the forest trail. She gave her swim bag a quick check over. Everything was good- she'd dropped things in the crowd before and had to go searching around for the goggles.

Nora headed down the trail until she spotted the clear waters of the lake, and Alyce's smiling face.
She headed over and had a brief chat before heading into the 'change rooms.'

After she was out, Nona wasted no time in jumping into the cool waters. It soon swelled over her head, and after a five second count she kicked and rose back up.

Alyce rolled her eyes once she breached. "Oh come on," her friend protested. "That was weak!" To prove her point, she went under. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, after seven seconds had passed, and then another seven, Alyce popped back up.
"See?" She beamed.

Nona only grumbled. She hated being beaten.
I can beat her, she told herself. Fourteen seconds is nothing.
She dived back under and started to count. She hit eight, then nine, and then kicked. Okay, that's good, she thought. You've made your point.
But for some reason, she wouldn't rise.
Frantic, Nona spread her arms out and kicked at the water, to no avail.
She wasn't going up.

Nona waved franticly at the surface, expecting her friend to grab her arm and pull her up.
But no such thing happened. She stayed there, kicking and holding her breath, until her friend disappeared under the water.

Good, Nona thought. She'll grab me.
Her world faded to black, leaving her at the mercy of the water.

---

Thankfully, she awoke dry.
But not at home.

She awoke to see three aces looming down at her. They weren't nurses, they appeared to be around her age. All wre girls, and wore the same clothing- flashy green shirts with brown shorts.
The other odd thing about them? They each had cuts on the sides of their necks.

"Who are you?" Nona asked, and the girls smiled.
"Oh good!"
"You're awake!"

Nona grumbled and sat up. "Answer me, please."

One of the girls nodded. "Alright. I suppose you deserve to know."
She stepped back and smiled. "We're the water guardians!" She jumped and pumped her fist in the air for emphasis.

The whole display would have been ridiculous- if her feet had touched the ground after she jumped.
But no. She stayed in place, floating above the ground.
"Th-that doesn't really answer my question," Nona said.

The floating girl lowered back down. "The job of the water guardians is to make sure that all bodies of water thrive. We know what's going to happen to people in the water, and we foresaw what that you and your friend were going to drown, so we saved you!"

Nona stared in disbelief. "Then what's with the floating?" She asked. "I mean- if you're water guardians, why can you fly?"

The girls exchanged looks. "Umm... we're underwater."

Confused, Nona swiped a hand forwards. Air. But her hand collided with something solid and she jerked it back, then cautiously reached out to touch the material.

It was some sort of bubble that protected her from the outside world.
One of the girls tossed her a mask, and it sailed through the bubble.
Nona frowned and looked up at the girls in confusion, who answered her question before she asked it.

"Liquid can't get in," she said. "And nothing from the inside can get out. Put the mask on."

Nona did as she was told and then she was lifted up. The bubble was gone, but she could sill breathe- probably the mask. his place was high tech.

She swam back up to the surface with Alyce and they hauled themselves onto the surface, then tossed their masks down.
"The threat is gone."

Nona squinted to see one of the girls from the land below, who quickly dropped back down again when someone else turned in the direction of her voice.
Nona leaned back and watched the water. No one would ever believe her.
This was a story to share with someone who already knew.

[frankie (dup)]

Genre: Fantasy
Word count: 884
Follow up: ---

Characters:

Name: Kyle Cody McDonald
Gender: Male
Age: 12
Hair color: Dark brown
Eye color: Pale green
Role: Protagonist

Name: Tiffany Aaron Carter
Gender: Female
Age: 12
Hair color: Pale brown
Eye color: Pale green
Role: Deurtagonist





Things had really lightened up when the truce was made. Everyone had braced themselves for fights, had warned themselves that the truce wouldn't last long, but two months passed, and the truce was getting better each day.
If anyone were to drive by the camps, they'd probably assume that they were just camping- sharing resources and eating together would do that.
But of course, no one drove by.

Everyone clung on to that bit of wishful thinking- that bit of hope, that everything would be fine, and someone would see a bus passing and tell them that they were trapped there.

Kyle clung to that, too. He was sure Tiffany did, too, by the way she watched the road with her piercing, pale green stare. He used to be afraid of those eyes when he'd first seen her, but now? They were just another pair of eyes to spot food. Or water. Or, if luck would have it, a passing car.

He leant against a tree at the moment, which brought back memories of when he'd first seen Tiffany, as well as that unfortunate panic attack.
Or... maybe his panic had been good, after all.

Tiffany had spoken to him a week after the event. "I was waiting there that night," she had said. "To see if someone from your group had come. I heard breathing. Heavy breathing. I turned to see you there. That's how it all begun."
It was amusing, honestly. He'd been scared of her seeing him, but she saw him, and it was good. Very good.

Kyle shuddered- from the cold, not from fear, and definitely not from the girl standing down the road, with the brown hair and green eyes.
No, definetley not her. She was the last person Kyle would ever be afraid of.

He yawned ans stretched back, shutting his eyes for a minute or two, when a voice interrupted him from his thoughts.
"It's getting late. We should head back."

Kyle opened his eyes to see pale green ones staring back at him, and he almost stumbled, but calmed down when he realized it was just Tiffany.
"Yeah, eah bossy face," he said, stretching back. Teasing Tiffany was fun. Sleep did threaten to close his eyes so he gave his friend a small wave before they seperated to their seperate camps.

Well, you couldn't really call them seperate anymore. The camps were together. They were one camp. Just with two different sleeping areas.

Whem Kyle returned to camp, he was greeted with anxious stares, to which he replied with a two shakes of his head no. The wo shakes were both god news and bad news- there was no sight of a signle vechile, but the North Camp hadn't betrayed them.
The second was good- it meant the truce would live to see another day. The scond ws not so good. It was no different from the usual news, but that didn;t make it any less bad.

The anxious looks on the faces of the campers died down, and everyone headed to sleep.

Th next day was an interesting one. Kyle waited around, anxious like everyone else, until finally, finally, their scout returned.
Anxious looks, anxious looks, but no nods. No shakes of the head, just two, powerful, words. "It's time."

Everyone rejoiced. It was obvious. It was time to escape. Time to get out of this rotten place.
Time for payback.

No one waited another second to get going. They grabbed whatever was neccasary to take- weapons, really, and ran to the North Camp.

They were ready too. There would be no delays. Everyone headed off, prepped for revenge.

They ran for a couple of hours along the road, then finally, turned into the woods.
After about a half hour, they hit a large building It wasn''t big enough to reach the tops of the trees, but it was still big.

Quietly, everyone exchanged quick, curt nods, and headed in.
Everything was quiet. Then came a single footstep.

Chaos. Punches were thrown. Kyle felt hot red blood bubbling under his fists and snaking up his arm with the knife. He wasn't entirely sure whoes blood it was.

When someone fell, others would drag out of the fray and tend to their ounds the best they could in the dark, and then get revenge on whoever did it.

Finally, the groups stumbled into a lit room and locked the door. They dressed their wounds and make ure no one broke through, then, slowly and carefully, Tiffany removed the window from its frame.
Thy climbed out and made sure no on was looking, and then the oldest girl in the North Camp, Naomi, took the wheel and took off. She went fast- really fast. If there were any speed limits on the road, she would have broken them.

Kyle leant back against the seat and slowly fell asleep.
Today was a great day.


When they reached civilisation, they found the real summer camp- it had been hijacked by some people who wanted strong people for some purpose, and the two groups were cheered on. Their names were in the news. All around the real summer camp, their names were whispered as they went passed.

Everything was good.
But the question was, who had taken them? Why?