--Planet, not a Diary! {Satire}

[Piefan]

I still have no idea what happened yesterday. Like, Arianna and Kris fought. They almost killed each other, meaning murder would have happened on school grounds. But most importantly, why were Zavier and Scarlette not partnered?

(Yes, I know, I have my priorities straight.)

I managed, though, to hold my curiosity until today. Since I knew Scarlette wouldn't be particularly receptive to talking during class, I had to wait for a gap between periods, wherein I scrambled to the Outcast HQ and waited. Around ten minutes passed before Zavier walked in, alone. Though he seemed to be in a bad mood, he quickly hid it upon noticing my presence.

"Hi, Z!" -Me

"Hey, Thalia." -Zavier

"So, yesterday-" -Me

"Is this about Scarlette? Not much to say; we managed to have a thirty-second argument." -Zavier

"... How?" -Me

"I happen to be the master of arguing."

I chuckled at his mildly sheepish expression, then paused, hoping he didn't find that offensive. He didn't, of course. Or if he did, he didn't show it. He laughed with me instead, all remnants of awkwardness gone. I am so charming.

We stopped short, however, as the door opened and Kris entered. He tossed his scythe roughly onto the ground next to the others, taking a seat opposite us. Needless to say, I was surprised. He'd never bothered coming until now - I wasn't sure why, but I assumed it was because he thought of us as below him, somehow.

Silence descended upon the room, and I decided to speak.

"Apples-" -Me

-then Arianna entered, with the same mildness as she had on the first day, and a sense of ironic grace to her. Although her hair was in disarray, only barely held together by her taut headband, and her cloak was crumpled, her demeanour had not changed. Her head was held high, and her step gentle, almost deliberate.

Why, exactly, she would be so elegant, I have no idea. The

"Hey, you two. I was hoping I'd find you here." -Rose

"What's a Popular doing in the Outcast HQ?" -Me

"I'm the ruler of the school. I can go where I want to go." -Rose

"But this is our space!" -Me

"Hang on, I, like, have something I'd like to show you. To tell you how much I really care."

She dug into her bag (which she was totally carrying this whole time, despite no mention having been made of it), pulling out a sheet of paper and handing it to me with a half-lidded gaze.

"This is a picture of all the damns I give." -Rose

"... It's blank." -Me

"Exactly. Now then, Kris, Arianna. What was up with yesterday's fight?" -Rose

"We were sparring. We got carried away. There's little to say." -Arianna

"I take that to mean you want to get expelled?" -Rose

"Is that a threat?" -Arianna

"Uh, yeah it is? What, did you think we don't have school rules? That we just run around doing what we feel like? *pause* Actually, I do do that. But you can't." -Rose

"I suggest you join Kris. I've heard he is on a quest to become a hated tyrant, and surely you would be able to help with that. Already you have partially succeeded." -Arianna

"As if I would ever willingly stand near you for more than five seconds." -Kris

"That's exactly what you're doing now." -Rose

"No." -Kris

"Anyway, don't change the subject. I was asking you about yesterday. Answer me." -Rose

"... You are quite possibly the most eloquent person I have ever met." -???

"Hey, wait, Khairul?" -Me

He had been peeking his head into the door, and he withdrew upon noticing me. I watched as he almost skipped away, his tailtip disappearing behind the wall, wondering why he was so happy. I mean, the past two times I saw him, he was all emo and stuff.

I diverted my attention back to Rose and the rest, mid-conversation. Kris was firing off sarcastic remarks, Zavier was looking like he really needed some popcorn, and Arianna was sipping from a water

"Yeah, take a guess at it, why don't you." -Kris

"Hm... Arianna seemed oddly eager to see you (shush, yes, I know that, despite not even being there, because it's convenient) when she found out you were at the gym, which implies she was trying to stop you from working out for whatever reason, the both of you attempted to kill each other, and you clearly and openly hate each other." -Rose

She paused for a few moments.

"She's your ex-girlfriend?" -Rose

It was at that moment that Arianna choked on her water. Zavier and I rushed to help her, but she waved us off.

"That was nowhere near the truth." -Kris

"Are you sure? 'Cause I totally ship it." -Rose

"Do you people frequently try to kill your loved ones in this place?" -Kris

"Well, no, but we do try to kill those we used to love." -Rose

*wheeze* "You have weird practices here..." -Arianna

"Pfft. Are you kidding me? I have a device in my pocket that can access thousands of pieces of knowledge, images, and text. Everything that is meant to be seen can be seen. It can communicate over metres; miles, even. I use it to play Summoners' War." -Zavier

"Well, yes, but you are an idiot."

A knock on the door, and another dog entered. On her head was a little, tiny, adorable blue creature-thing. I instantly rushed towards her, nearly cracking her skull as I stared at the thing. The dog herself was knocked back by the force of what was basically a pounce, and she shrieked in alarm.



"OH MY GOSH THAT IS ADORABLE" -Me

O_o "Woah there, Tha. Calm down." -Zavier

"I totally am already calm but that is so cute I must have it." -Me

"... Please get away from me..." -???

Realising I was acting kinda crazy, I backed off, though I didn't take my eyes off the blue thing standing on her head. Rose finally took notice, sliding in front of me.

"Oh my gosh, Thalia. You can't do that, especially not to a Popular." -Rose

"It's fine... Am I in the wrong room?" -???

"Yeah, you are. Populars Headquarters is upstairs. Take a left turn, third door." -Rose

"You're a Popular?" -Me

"Yes. My name's Elven. Why?" -???

"Since you are, logic leads me to believe that I should hate you." -Me

"... Seriously? You hate me, and because of that, you decide to judge people based on what I think of them?" -Rose

"Well, yeah. It makes perfect sense." -Me

"I'm... just going to leave now."

And she edged away, gently closing the door with a small [I]click[I]. A hush ensued, in which we just stood, sat and stared. From a window, we could see most of what was happening outside - mostly people walking past. Nerds and Jocks, Emos and Populars, just going about their day-to-day lives. Zavier broke the silence after some time.

"Uh, hey, hate to ruin this moment and all, but where'd Kris go? And Arianna?" -Zavier

"... Crap."

idk. Did I portray Elven right?

[hxneystorm]

Yeah I think so. Plot twist coming to you via PM.

[still]

Pet's name: Mistletoe * high demand pet*
Adopt virtual pets at Chicken Smoothie!

◤xxxxxxxxxxx◥
image
n a m exh e r e: Mistletoe
" quote without capitals" you choose, I can't think of anything.
◣xxxxxxxxxxx◢

Gender: female
Relationships: none
Overall: (personality, skills, etc) She's bookworm and forthright as well as loves botany
Other: Add to this as much as you like and Is it okay that she is a tree?

[Piefan]

@huuuuuh
Sure! ^^ This is going to be amusing lol.

[hxneystorm]

Tree... omg.

[Piefan]

All in all, today was a pretty good day. I mean, I did get stuck in a neverending, dark void for possibly eternity, but that's kinda minor. ^_^

I'd arrived to school early, where I found Scarlette standing near her locker. Mine isn't actually anywhere near to hers, but I had enough spare time to look for her, since neither Zavier nor Khairul was around.

"Hey~!" -Me

"You're here early." -Scarlette

"So are you." -Me

"I was forced. And were you?" -Scarlette

"Well, kind of." -Me

"I see you've begun speaking in three-word sentences." -Rose

Though I didn't see her at first, her voice was way too loud to be missed. She sauntered up to us, stride confident and gaze condescending as she looked down upon us - both metaphorically and literally. She's, like, twice my height.

"While you're here, you want to begin giving me a bunch of exposition, too? Your sad backstory? Are you going to snap at me about how worthless I am?" -Rose

Scarlette sighed, leaning her head against her locker door.

"Get out of here, Rose." -Me

"Pfft. Believe me, I'd like to. But it just so happens that my locker's near hers. It always has been, apparently. For, like, years." -Rose

"Whatever. Just get your stuff and go already." -Me

Rolling her eyes, Rose brisk-walked away, and in her place came Zavier. His hoodie was off, though, revealing more clearly the fire on his back. I still wondered how that works. But then again, there are dogs, cats, and horses here who can shrug while on all fours. Plus, I didn't think it would be a good idea to ask. Like, "Hey, Zavier, why were you born like that?"

"Hey, guys. Did I miss anything?" -Zavier

"Nope. Just, like, exchanged five words with Rose."

"'Kay. I'm gonna go find my hoodie; being without it feels so weird." -Zavier

"Wait, so do you wear it everywhere?" -Me

"Well, everywhere that isn't home. Doesn't exactly hide the flames, but it does subdue them a little, as my doctor put it." -Zavier

"... Wait, doctor? Is it a medical condition or something? And why would you want to hide ir?" -Me

He shrugged casually, beginning to walk off as I followed. I noticed that Scarlette had apparently slipped off while we were talking - I didn't see her anywhere, so she'd probably decided to just sit around in class for a while more.

"Having a flaming back? Not exactly a known disease or anything, but not really normal either. It can't actually harm anyone much, but it's not like people are queuing up to find out. Makes public transport an absolute pain in the a-" -Zavier

Noticing a kitten - Fatin, Khairul's sister - approaching, I mended his sentence for him.

"-aaacne." -Me

"What?" -Zavier

"It's a pain in the acne. You can't curse in front of children, you know." -Me

"Good enough, I guess. Have y'seen Arianna anywhere? I need to ask her about the science homework thing." -Zavier

Just then, the same cat jumped out from seemingly nowhere, grinning. Zavier staared, stunned, for a while.

"Hey! ^_^ Are you talking about that girl with the headband?" -Fatin

"Yeah. The one with the cloak and brown hair." -Me

"Oh, she's in the cafeteria. She told me to get you to meet you there." -Fatin

"Oh. Are you a PPS, or?" -Zavier

"Yep, I'm a Peter Pan Syndrome! I love being illnesses; it's so fun! I don't go to the school. I'm just here because whatever." -Fatin

Without another word, she skipped back to where she came from. Zavier and I glanced at each other, skepticism and cheer on our respective faces. Then, suddenly getting an idea, I stretched my limbs.

"Race ya there!" -Me

I sprinted off, mustering all my energy as I ran down the long hallways. Though I was in the lead for a few seconds as he processed what had just happened, he quickly caught up, cruising just a tail's length in front of me. The stairs didn't help, either - while he practically flew down them, I got my legs tangled up and fell down them. As I mentioned earlier, though, I never have long-running consequences to any injuries. Quickly getting up, I continued.

Stamina happens to be one of my strong points, though. As we approached the double doors, I was gaining on him, nearly surpassing him. He had begun to slow as a result of fatigue, after all, while I have practically unlimited energy.

Ultimately, though, his paws touched the doors just a second before mine, and I groaned as I entered. The effort had left both of us sweaty and tired, but thankfully, there weren't many people there to complain. Just the two of us, Scarlette, Khairul, Fatin, Rose, and Arianna. Oh, and also the lunch ladies.

"... You two need a bath. Badly." -Khairul

next post: the actual problem is introduced. And it took thirteen posts/chapters... I have really got to work on my pacing, don't I?

[Piefan]

Neither of us responded, too busy panting. When I dragged myself to a table (Zavier's own reaction amounted to collapsing on the ground right there), I noticed that there were sweaty pawprints where I had stood. Wow.

Rose was talking to the lunch lady about something I couldn't quite discern, though as my breathing calmed, I managed to listen in a little. The principal was standing beside her, tapping her paw and looking at her watch.

"What do you MEAN you're serving meatloaf because 'it's cheap'? You know everyone hates it. Besides, your budget's more than large enough-" -Rose

... Yeah, pointless arguments, pretty much. I decided to ignore her, looking instead at Arianna, who was sitting opposite me at the same table. Panic and tension were prevalent on her face, not to mention that she was muttering to herself under her breath. Once she noticed me staring, though, she masked it with her usual elegance.

Zavier sat beside me, gesturing for Scarlette to come as well. She did. Once the three of us were gathered, Arianna spoke.

"Gree- Hello. I assume the kitten passed on the message?" -Arianna

"Yep, Fatin certainly did." -Me

"Good. Now then, I... didn't actually have anything important to call you for." -Arianna

.-.

"Apologies for the random question, but it's for a survey. If there was some kind of apocalypse... Maybe some deranged tyrant by the name of Christopher Alpha or Tris Omega..." -Arianna

"Are you trying to hint at something?" -Scarlette

"... How would you defend yourself?" -Arianna

"Pfft, defend? Go the heck on attack. Kill that Chris or Tris or whatever." -Zavier

"It's an apocalypse. Do you think someone capable of destroying the world could be taken down by you?" -Arianna

"Then I'll go down fighting. Better than just lying around waiting to die." -Zavier

"Fine then. Let's add another factor into this: a dog by the name of... I don't know, maybe Melodia or Sonatina? It is her job to defend all of you. She would stop you from your inevitable death at the paws of K--- Chris." -Arianna

"Now I'm certain you're hinting at something." -Scarlette

"I doubt she could stop me anyway." -Zavier

"She could; trust me on that." -Arianna

She paused suddenly, eyes widening as she turned around. I followed her gaze to the door, where Kris was entering, scythe in mouth. Before we could react, he was charging at Rose and the principal, holding his weapon to the latter's neck.

Silence descended upon the room, our group no longer speaking. Burn marks formed on her skin as he spoke, voice low and tense:

"I've been planning this for way too long; my stupid golem's been getting in the way. I need you to hand over the school or die." -Kris

We only stared, stunned, wondering what the heck we could do. The principal took a sheepish step backwards, but Kris made up the gap almost instantly - though I noticed he was holding the blade half an inch from her flesh. I doubt killing her in front of six kids would be easy to cover up, after all.

Suddenly, Zavier stood. The villanous dog (why yes, I did just use that phrase in semi-serious writing) turned to glare at him, but he just held up his paws, beginning to walk slowly off.

"Coward." -Arianna

Though her voice was barely a whisper, he seemed to hear it, and scowled. Mouthing at us to stall for time, he bolted off. She didn't seem convinced, though, that he was going to come back. Scarlette and I shared a look.

The lunch ladies proceeded to completely ignore everything happening around them, turning around and going back into the kitchen. Rose glared at them before turning to Kris, fear absent from her voice.

"You really are the master of making speeches, aren't you? Seriously, you could at least provide us with some exposition before going ahead. Not that I want an exposition fairy to be running around, but I have no idea what's happening. This writing's terrible!" -Rose

"... Shut up. Everything that's happening, and you're worried about that." -Kris

"Are you sassing me?" -Rose

"Heck yeah." -Kris

Arianna walked, steps slow, as Kris and Rose argued, though unlike Zavier, she was heading towards him. Her intent was clearly to attack, though I wasn't sure how much good that would do - Rose would probably get in her way, and she'd almost lost the last fight anyway.

A childish giggle reminded me that Fatin was still here - along, of course, with Khairul. She didn't seem to have noriced what was happening at all, too busy batting a ball of yarn back and forth. Ir was hard not to feel relieved - after all, she's just a child, and having her watch all this wouldn't exactly be good for her. Khairul was watching intently, sitting beside Fatin with his ears folded back.

"And seriously, you still look like a girl." -Rose

And that was all that was needed for him to snap. He whipped around as the plasma blade flared - like a powerful yellow fire - charring her fur, however slightly. Sighing with relief, the principal rubbed her neck, then she glared violently at Kris, as if analysing just what to do: run, run, or run.

Loud pawsteps marked Zavier's entrance, and - because he'd apparently given up on stelath altogether - a battle cry. Armed with a scythe, now wearing his hoodie, he charged. The attack was too sudden for Kris to immediately react, and the blade dug into his fur, drawing blood. It was after this first slash, however, that he lost his advantage.

Kris performed several stabbing moves in quick succession, and Zavier seemed to have the common sense to focus on defense. Seeing that Arianna was still standing there, he shook her head at her, gesturing for her to get back to safety, then he raised his scythe, letting it take the following attacks. Steel against kind-of-metal-because-I-don't-think-actual-plasma-works-like-that collided with a powerful clang.

The rest of us chose this moment to interfere.

Fatin and Khairul (much heroics! <333) leaped from their seat, claws unsheathed. Rose spoke again, shouting something incoherent, Scarlette and I ran over, and Arianna grabbed a nearby fork.

I didn't have time to question why a kitten was joining in deadly combat. I was far more concerned with someone else's choice of weapon.

"A fork? Seriously?" -Me

"When in doubt, stab someone." -Arianna

True to her word, she did just that. Scarlette sidestepped to dodge what would have otherwise taken a chunk out of her tail, but I bumped into her, sending us both stumbling in opposite directions. On the bright side, though, neither of us got hurt - it cut instead into Kris's flesh.

"Who uses a fork as a weaaaaAAH!" -Zavier

He didn't finish his sentence - the scythe's blade appeared to have partially melted, as a result of extended contact with plasma. Quickly dropping the weapon, he scrambled backwards, and Arianna grabbed it, heedless of the danger, quickly tossing it to the principal.

"Hold this!" -Arianna

The scythe fell conveniently into her paws, and she stared at it for a moment. For us, the next few minutes consisted of dodging all attacks we could - Kris was an unsurprisingly good fighter, capable of apparently holding off six people at once, as well as actually posing a threat to all of them. I heard Rose's voice ring through the chaos, powerful and demanding.

Darting into the action, she grabbed Arianna by her cloak's collar, dragging her to a table.

"Ari, it's pretty clear you know what's happening here. And I need your explanation, now." -Rose

"We can deal with this as soon as we get to safety." -Arianna

"Then we're leaving this room stat." -Rose

"I disagree." -Arianna

She quickly undid the knot that kept her cloak on, grabbing the nearest thing - which happened to be the scythe that she'd just handed to the principal. Then she threw it - no, I am not kidding, because apparently this girl loves throwing weapons at people - at Kris.

Something I should mention is that it didn't seem to have fully cooled yet. It had solidified, yes, but that didn't mean it wasn't still red-hot. It wasn't as sharp as it had been, but it was probably a few hundred degrees Celsius, as well as pretty heavy.

And she was throwing it at a presumably mortal person.

It seemed as if it would have been the end for him right then and there, but with inhuman reflexes, he waved an arm, and a swirly portal thing opened up, which he stepped through. The scythe clinked on the ground where he had been.

In an instant, Arianna closed her eyes, muttering what I assumed to be vulgarities under her breath. With the cloak in one paw, Rose approached, putting her spare paw on the other dog's shoulder.

"Okay, now nothing dangerous is happening, you'd better d-" -Rose

She jerked her arm out of the way, but Rose was persistent. I decided not to concern myself with their affairs, turning to Zavier and the rest. Scarlette was staring, stunned, as if she just wanted to curl into a ball and question her mental stability. Though Fatin was pretty obviously hurt, she didn't seem to pay any mind. Her mostly brown fur made it hard to see the blood that splattered her back, and she had been looking through the portal for some time.

Rose's injuries were few, but they seemed to be painfully, painfully, obvious. Her pink fur had been charred black in places, making her look like she'd been through a fire. Arianna was just... yeah.

I was most concerned, however, with Zavier. I mean, he was the one who had just gone head-on with Kris. He shook his head, though, when I glanced at him.

"Never mind me. That kitten over there? More significant." -Zavier

"Something I wholeheartedly agree with." -Khairul

Apparently, the portal had a black-hole-esque pull - that or Khairul and Fatin were exceptionally good at the moonwalk. She had abandoned her earlier curiosity, instead trying to get away from the portal. Despite their desperate attempts to get both of them back to safety, it was pulling them into it, and they were only barely staying outside it. I grabbed Khairul by the tail, joining them.

The force of all three of us was more powerful than the portal, not to mention that it was already beginning to shrink. However, as it did so, it got stronger, and we strained our muscles just to remain standing where we were. Still, we managed.

Until Arianna distracted us. She yelled something at Rose, who was still glaring at her, before both disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

"Wha- Woah!" -Me

"Thalia!" -Zavier

I shrieked as I lost my concentration, being sucked into the vortex. It was too fast for me to do much - not even say some epic one-liner. As I flashed through, everything went black.

And I don't mean I fainted - apparently, the portal led to this weird, dark void thing. Fatin and Khairul had landed a couple minutes before me, and just inches from being crushed by my weight. I'm not heavy, but I am a teenage dog, and not one who diets.

As they say, cats always land on their feet. Dogs do not. I was sprawled awkwardly on my back, while Fatin and Khairul were gracefully standing, albeit somewhat unbalanced.

I looked around; the portal was nearly nonexistent, and Scarlette's scream pierced the silence as she appeared, followed by Zavier. Unlike us, however, he seemed to have purposely jumped in, for whatever reason.

Then Rose and Arianna appeared, in the same bright flash of light as before. I ignored them, rushing towards the vortex. Before I could reach it, however, it was gone.

And I was trapped inside this unforgiving dimension.

Get it? The calm before the storm? I'm totally punny, shush you. New poll's up in the FC, for those of you who don't follow it. It does, indeed, have some significance to the fate of a minor character, who gets her own 'chapter'.

The reason Zavier purposely jumped into the portal is because of Thalia. Sacrifice, I can't leave you there alone, etc etc.

[hxneystorm]

Dayum son.

[Piefan]

Alone.

Rose screamed, but I paid no mind. Darkness surrounded me, and I reached out as if it was palpable; it felt as if it were suffocating me. My paw met empty air. I realised, suddenly, that I wasn't breathing. And I didn't seem to have a pulse.

I inhaled.

Then I joined Rose in shrieking.

"Chill, Tha." -Zavier

"Agreed." -Scarlette

I realised that Scar had put her paws over her ears, trying to drown out the noise. Falling silent, I glanced at them, eyes empty.

"Rose. Thalia. Fatin. I know this seems disorienting, but-" -Arianna

"-we're in a freaking empty void and it's not just disorienting, it's terrifying-" -Rose

"-you need to relax." -Arianna

"itotallyamrelaxedwhatareyoutalkingabout" -Me

"Thalia, this is not helping." -Khairul

Dark eyes glared at me, annoyance prevalent in them. I breathed deeply; the atmosphere was practically nonexistent, meaning I was doing nothing more than expanding my lungs. (Which is totally how biology and our respiratory system works.) Still, it was no less soothing than doing it anywhere else, and I began to calm.

That didn't mean, though, that everyone else felt the same way. Fatin was still gazing around curiously, but Rose was shivering in what I assumed to be fright. I couldn't really complain about her without being a complete hypocrite, so instead, I gazed at her.

After a while, her shivering ceased, though her fear was unmistakable. She stood, looking around.

"Where's Kris?" -Rose

"Somewhere. Presumably, he has fled by now." -Arianna

"It would be pointless to search for him now; I think we can all agree to that. Even if such a thing did have any practical p-" -Khairul

"Never mind that. Before we dive into tactics, I do believe you asked me to explain myself, Rose." -Arianna

"You said you would do that 'when we were in safety'. How is this any safer than the situation we were in ten minutes ago? But, yeah, continue." -Rose

Arianna walked closer towards us, waving a paw in the air. It crackled with something similar to electricity, and I stared, amazed. Did that happen every time she moved?

"Good. Now, what canine mythology covers the earliest parts of the universe?" -Arianna

"The Legend of The Six Spirits." -Scarlette

"This info dump should really have happened near the beginning of this, before we used that term twenty times."

"I don't know about that. At least the readers are actually told what's happening this time."

Rose paused, glanced, at Fatin, and smiled. Not that most of us noticed.

"And who are the Six Spirits?" -Arianna

"They were born when the universe was: The spirits of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Light, and Shadow. The Earth spirit created our planet, which was named after it. Water, Fire, and Air aided it in its quest, and eventually, they created life. Meanwhile, the Light spirit took to the heavens, forming the stars." -Scarlette

"And the Shadow, if I'm correct, wrapped itself around the Earth to sheild life from the burning heat produced by the Light. All of this is, for the most part, accurate." -Arianna

"The folk tales of the cats were erroneous again? What a shock." -Khairul

"... Yes. They were. Most galaxies and universes were born the same way, but there are some which are... corrupted, for lack of a better word." -Arianna

"Corrupted? And just how many universes are there?" -Zavier

"Millions. Each are different, radically so. The odds are extremely low that your parents just happened to meet, fall in love, and survive long enough to raise you. Scarlette, your mother was mainly focused on her career before she met your father, no?" -Arianna

Stunned, Scarlette slowly nodded.

"And anything could have happened that would have prevented that from happening. If she made the wrong movement and ended up tripping during her important speech, she would have never been invited to dinner, and never met her future husband. Which would have led to you never being born. Which would have led to many, many different things happening in all of our lives." -Arianna

"That doesn't really answer anything, though. There are millions of alternate dimensions, blah blah blah, what does that have to do with Kris?" -Zavier

"I was getting to that. In some universes, the Six Spirits never existed at all. However, universes seem like they must create life, in some form. Cue the Worldhoppers." -Arianna

She moved a graceful paw, a trail of blue magic following it. Using the magic as a paint, of sorts, she drew a picture in the air. A glittering, enchanted picture of a blank universe, consisting only of floating rocks in the emptiness.

"I'm not sure how they started, but one is usually churned out every century or so, as a result of universes having nothing else to do. You can probably guess what Worldhoppers do, but more specifically, they try to do good. They don't have a choice, really - when a danger comes, they're basically kicked out from their home galaxy until they help solve the problem." -Arianna

She added a badly-drawn image of a cloaked dog that I assumed to represent her. The dog seemed happy enough, in the weird universe thing, but in an instant, she had vanished. Arianna wiped the drawing away, replacing it with a crude picture of the flora and fauna on Earth.

"But then again, there are the ones who choose to disobey that rule. Prime, and most relevant, example: Kris. When he was created, there was no danger for a long, long time. It may be worth mentioning that, as a Worldhopper's universes ages, it begins to become less stable, meaning anyone with the gift of magic can twist it to their will. Similar to what I'm doing now." -Arianna

"Wait, so... this is Kris's home?" -Rose

"Correct. So, simply said, an increasingly powerful dog had no contact with humans for half of his life, and he spent most of his time practicing combat. Needless to say, that did not end well. When at last danger came, and he was forced to leave, he did not help the innocent. Instead, he destroyed. He did not have to suffer consequences - after all, who could defeat the one who had devoted his entire life to learning how to fight? - and his universe..." -Arianna

She trailed off. Ears flattened, she stared at the ground, before Khairul coughed awkwardly, and she seemed to remember what she was supposed to be doing.

"And then I was created. It's rare that more than one Worldhopper is created within the same century, but apparently, it was needed. I've faced Kris many times - sometimes I won, sometimes not." -Arianna

She rubbed the image away, as if it were on a whiteboard. Then she looked at us meaningfully.

"I should get you home as soon as possible. I'm far younger than Kris, and I don't have the ability to create portals, but that doesn't mean I don't have power - I'm sure I'll find a way. This isn't the place for people like you. It's---" -Arianna

RING RING RING!

"Wait, I think someone's trying to video-chat me." -Zavier

He pulled out a tablet, beginning to tap on it.

"O_O" -Me

"..." -Khairul

"... I am paying most of my pocket money for mobile data." -Zavier

Pie: So good at worldbuilding, she does multiverse building.

jk, jk, I made it up as I wrote. I wasn't planning on having this much of an info-dump, but subtle exposition isn't exactly easy here.

[hxneystorm]

Wow..