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Poets and Writers is a group dedicated to the creation of literature, particularly fiction. Any poems or short stories are accepted, and all are allowed to join. However, because we're dedicated to catering to all ages, we do not allow mature deviations to be submitted to our group. If you are one of the people who would like to see P&W become a supergroup, please donate here :iconp-and-w-plz:
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Founded 14 Years ago
Dec 28, 2009

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Global

Group Focus
Literature

3,470 Members
2,459 Watchers
94,257 Pageviews

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:iconiwriteatnight::iconwriters-welcome::iconshort-fiction:

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Fiction Short Stories
Boots by PeterPixyHarrison
The Girl Who Heard ColorsChristy never thought of herself as a normal girl, even though she had normal interests, a normal appearance, and lived with a normal family. What was completely different about her was that she could see colors whenever she read or heard sounds. For example, when she heard a bell, she saw silver, and when a dog barked, she saw red. This was because Christy had synesthesia, which meant her senses were completely mixed up. Christy believed that her synesthesia was something that made her completely different than anyone else she knew. While normal people saw colors, heard sounds, or tasted flavors, synesthetes like Christy experienced something so much more. Christy’s world was filled with a brightness that came from all directions. But it didn’t stop at seeing colors whenever she heard sounds. She also heard sounds when she saw certain shapes, saw light coming from people who walked by, felt music like it was a beating heart, and saw temperatures. It had always been like this. She heard it, she saw it. She saw it, she heard it. She felt it, she saw it. She heard it, she felt it. And as you can imagine, while it was an amazing way to look at the world, it sometimes made her life rather difficult. As a child, Christy had often wondered why she saw and heard things differently than other kids. She would get lost in the color of her favorite numbers, the shapes that would create a symphony in her ears, and the way she could remember the world around her through an array of colors and sounds. It wasn't until she was 8 years old that she realized what was happening. It was on a beautiful summer day, as Christy played in her backyard with a few of her friends. In the corner of the yard, she saw an overturned tricycle, and immediately was overwhelmed with a familiar hum. Her friends noticed and immediately rushed to her side, asking her what happened. Christy stuttered, trying to explain that the shape of the tricycle had created a sound in her ears, and that she could feel the vibrations of the hum against her skin. Her friends were instantly fascinated, questioning her about the many wonders of her brain. Christy was elated, no longer feeling different or alone for having this unique ability. She explained how shapes triggered sounds, and how numbers made her see bright, beautiful colors. While they asked many questions, they also created an opportunity for her to discover more and more about the complexities of her synesthesia. That day, Christy went home feeling at ease, knowing that she wasn't the only one with strange abilities. She now had an understanding of the gifts her brain had to offer. She felt special, unique, and most of all, brave for embracing her synesthetic powers.When Christy was a child, words like “synesthesia” were not very common, and even though she thought her synesthesia made her special, she always had trouble explaining to others what she saw and how she sensed things. Nobody really believed her, of course. When she told the other kids at school about her condition, they found it quite odd and thought she was just making things up, because her experiences didn’t sound like anything they had heard before. Because she was unable to describe what it was like, Christy felt like an outcast among her peers. She enjoyed drawing and writing her own stories and poetry, and when she showed her work to other people, they would give her plenty of compliments, such as “Wow, what a vivid imagination!” and “Such poetic language!”, and while Christy was flattered by what people thought of her artwork and writing, she didn’t want to tell them that her talents were based on her ability to hear colors and see sounds, because if she did, they would laugh at her. Instead, she just said a simple “Thanks.” When Christy was feeling a certain emotion, she could see it, too, as her skin would appear a certain color. If she was mad, she could see the heat coming off her own body in the form of a silver color. If she was happy, she could see her skin glow a golden color. She could also see other people’s emotions in the form of colors when she walked by them. She noticed how their emotions bounced off them like waves. She wished she could explain it better, but how could she explain a sensation that was caused by a mixing of sensations? She could only say that she didn’t know how her senses were mixed up, but the sensations they caused were beautiful. Aside from art and writing, Christy also enjoyed music, because listening to it made her see the most colors and shapes than any other sound. She could feel the music, too. When she touched a piano note, she could see thousands of blue crystals that felt cold on her skin. When she strummed a guitar chord, she could see warm colors that also made the top of her head warm. When she felt a drumbeat, it tingled the bicep in one of her arms and she could see bright colors in the form of circles. Christy thought it was cool that she could hear, see, and feel music all at the same time. That’s why she took up learning different instruments, especially the guitar and piano. As Christy grew older, her understanding of her synesthesia deepened. She sought solace and expression in her art, writing, and music, using them as mediums to capture the intricate dance of colors and sounds that enveloped her. Each stroke of her brush, each word she penned, and each note she played became a gateway to a world where the boundaries between senses blurred.Her parents, although they couldn't fully grasp the intricacies of her synesthetic experiences, always encouraged her creative pursuits. They recognized her talent and marveled at the way she effortlessly translated her unique perception of the world into mesmerizing works of art.In school, Christy continued to face challenges. While her classmates began to appreciate her artistic abilities, they still struggled to comprehend the depths of her synesthesia. To them, she was an enigma, a girl who saw and heard things that existed beyond their understanding.However, Christy's passion for the arts became her refuge. Through her creations, she found solace, connection, and a means to communicate the vibrant symphony of her senses with the world. She poured her heart and soul into her art, infusing it with the kaleidoscope of emotions and sensations that thrived within her.One day, as Christy entered her teenage years, an opportunity presented itself. The school announced a talent show, and Christy decided it was the perfect platform to share her synesthetic experiences with her peers. She would showcase her art, writing, and music, inviting them into her world of colors and sounds.The day of the talent show arrived, and Christy took center stage. The hall was filled with anticipation as she held a paintbrush in one hand and a guitar in the other. She began to speak, her voice trembling with a mixture of nerves and excitement."Today, I want to invite you all into my world, a world where colors sing and sounds paint. Through my art, writing, and music, I hope to share a glimpse of what it's like to experience life through the lens of synesthesia."With each stroke of her brush, vibrant hues exploded onto the canvas, mirroring the melodies that echoed in her ears. Her writing flowed like a river, weaving together intricate descriptions of her synesthetic encounters. And as she strummed her guitar, the audience was transported to a realm where melodies danced in a riot of colors.As Christy reached the finale of her performance, a hush fell over the crowd. She closed her eyes, allowing the music to guide her fingers across the strings, while her synesthesia transformed the sound into an explosion of colors and sensations. The stage was enveloped in a breathtaking display of lights and sounds, an ethereal symphony that could be seen and felt.When the final note faded, the audience erupted into thunderous applause. Christy stood there in awe, tears of joy streaming down her face. In that moment, she realized that she had not only shared her synesthesia with others but had also touched their hearts and minds.From that day forward, Christy's journey continued, and she became an advocate for understanding and acceptance. She found a community of fellow synesthetes who shared her experiences, and together, they celebrated the kaleidoscope of senses that painted their lives.Christy's synesthesia was no longer a burden or a secret to be kept—it was a gift, a window into a world where colors harmonized with sounds, where shapes whispered melodies, and where emotions danced in vibrant hues. Through her art, her writing, and her music, Christy would forever paint the world in a symphony of colors, allowing others to glimpse the beauty that resides beyond the boundaries of ordinary perception.
Realistic or Non-Fiction Short Stories
Adjust to the LightAdjust to the LightYussra MT Ebrahim11/6/2023 It could have been me, under bombardment, instead of marching though the streets of DC for those who are. I feel no ego about this. I feel shame. I eat and they starve. I rest and they can’t. My personal sovereignty is respected and their human dignity is violated. Those in power allow this to happen, or even violate the oppressed themselves, because al Haqq, the Truth, is not a worthy enough cause in their eyes to sacrifice their status, and so they remain in the most public-facing jobs stuck in their evident hypocrisy, desperately trying to redefine justice, clinging onto what, I pray I never find out. Evil is not sudden, just suddenly exposed, and if I say I’m tired, then what can the Palestinians say? As Zionists use chemical weapons to dismember the children and refugees they failed to kill by cutting off their water in the world’s largest concentration camp, as the world relearns that international law is decoration and its leaders tolerate and orchestrate settler-colonial occupation and ethnic cleansing, we are uncomfortably reminded once again that this whole thing, this whole time, has all been a show, from the media to the politicians to the forces. If you're not sure where to look or what to say as the curtains part, take a moment to take it in. Bear witness to the fickle shrinking of every shade of falsehood as the blinding reality, the Truth that remains, reveals and exposes everything. It hurts our eyes, I know. Don’t look away. Let’s not risk forgetting again. It hurts our hearts, I know. Let’s give them a moment to adjust to the light.
Another Day and Another Body Jay opened his eyes, looking up at the popcorn ceiling he was lying under. He didn't need to look at the clock to know it was late in the afternoon. He sighed, realizing that he had missed his online class lecture again. Jay slowly sat up, rubbing his cheek, trying to convince himself to get out of bed. Even though it had only been a week since he finished his last commission, his funds were running low again. He would need to do another commission. Hopefully, one higher paying than the last one and one that required less effort. Sitting up with a groan, he cradled his forehead. Looking over at his dresser, which was in the middle of puking up papers and socks, covered in many different glasses, filled with either ancient cold coffee sludge or lukewarm water, he finally gets up. Stumbling around his room, he walks down to the kitchen, slamming his foot accidentally against the only kitchen chair. "Ffffffffffffffff-" Jay starts to yell out when he's interrupted by the doorbell's loud screech. Limping his way over to the front door, he cautiously peered out of the door's peephole and groaned when he saw his landlord fumbling impatiently with his keys. His landlord was Kevin Campbell, a 55-year-old man going on a cantankerous 70. A pot-bellied man with the ugliest dirty blond toupee Jay had ever seen who eternally smelled like a mix of cheap beer and several packs of Camels, he looked very similar to the pigs in Jay's anatomy class. However, unlike the pigs, he was never clean. His tiger-striped ill-fitting sweat pants were covered in mystery stains and a wife beater that looked like it had absorbed more than just sweat. While his main source of income came from his Christian bookstore, From a Dove, he also rented out buildings around the town. Before his arrest, Kevin's son had several meth labs in the rental homes, hence why rent was so cheap. Wanting to get this exchange over with, Jay opens the door, gagging a bit as Mr. Thompson blows a grimy smoke cloud into his face. "Hello, Mr. Campbell, how are you-" Jay starts to say before immediately being cut off."Where's my money for this month?" Campbell angrily growled out."It's not the 31st yet, so I still have a couple of days to-," Jay began calmly before getting cut off. "Listen, I have half a mind to evict you for some other tenant. I have no clue what you do for work, but it can't be legal. Besides, you haven't done a damn thing to fix up this wreck since moving in." Yelling the last part, Campbell thrusts an arm at the rental home, almost smacking Jay. "I don't think it's my job to-," Jay slowly began before, once again, getting cut off. "Either pay me by the end of the week and start improving this dump, or I'll evict your ass!" Campbell shouted before turning and walking away. As he stormed off, he kicked over Jay's trash can, spilling trash across the cracked driveway. Jay just watched him go and walked back inside. He closed the door behind him and sank to the ground, exhausted by the interaction and unwilling to walk to the nearest chair. He slammed the back of his head against the door with a loud thud. This just wasn't his day. After sitting around for a few minutes, he gets up and walks back to his bedroom, closing the door behind him. Opening his battered laptop, he looks through the site's commissions for several minutes before finding a seemingly easy one with high pay. Reading it, Jay was both happy and confused. On the one hand, it was enough to pay the rent, necessities, and maybe a way to improve the place. On the other hand, it was too easy. Sure, he had to create a burial mound, which wasn't easy, and rent a truck, but the pay seemed higher than it should. Fifty thousand dollars just to bury a teenager? Something was up. Then again, was Jay in any position to refuse it?With a low sigh and a feeling of dread filling him, Jay hit the accept button and started to prepare for the burial.
Fiction Novels 1st Chapters
The Star Warrior Nutcracker Ch. 7“So when you do that camouflage thing?” lololo asked ellineElline stared down at the blue ball beside here for a long moment and then slowly retracted her marshmallow from the fire. Without saying another word, she just popped the treat into her mouth, glancing uncomfortably at lololo“You know, i never knew your chateau around here,” tiff said as she pressed her marshmallow between two graham crackersSusie casually sliding a piece of chocolate into tiff’s little sandwich. “Well, who do you think made the path to the house“That Was You Guys?” spinni askedSusie gasped “wait how do you know?”“Did you make this whole house too? Ribbon inquired, glazing around“Oh, yeah, technology is my specialty” well, that and throwing parties.“It’s incredible,” tiff compliment, although it’s a little…in the disarray“Oh” susie hung her head. Well, things haven’t been the same since that mean old rat, daroach took over. He sent the squeakers to take the place apart. We managed to fight most of them but…” susie sniffled “not before they took my itsy bitsy beau!”Spinni raised an eyebrow. “Itsy bitsy beau?”The pink haired girl wailed and collapsed into adeleine’s shoulder, as she was the nearest“She means taranza,” lololo explainedSpinni tilted his head “she’s upset ‘cuz the squeaks took taranza”“He’s our butler!”“Oh” spinni shrank back to that that response“He was just going to lead them away!” susie whined “But he never came back!”Hey now” adeleine said, softly patting her back “it’s okay”“HOW IS IT OKAY?!Tiff shrugged “well, for one thing, A lot know how you feel. My little brother was taken by the squeakers just today”“And the squeak king has my fairy queen,” said metaknight“And my claycia” murmured elline“But don’t you worry,” ribbon said boldly. Once that brute is off the throne, we’re going to get everybody back“That’s right,” adeleine whispered, lifting susie’s chin. “We’ll all be with our loved ones “Yeah” spinni huffed glancing down in the floor “you’ll see him again, alright”One way or another, she finished in her headShe remember taranza as soon as she heard his name: young, spider-like creature. brown skin as well as shiny, silver, curvy hair. Daraoch made him his court jester. Sometimes spinni and elline would like to see him perform. Taranza was hilarious with his magic tricks, but now it, he always had a sort of sadness in his eyes she glanced around at the twins and susie,blowing into her handkerchief.Elline touched a spot below her neck, where the silver whistle bulged slightly. If she were to blow it here now, would the squeakers take the twins and susie? Would daroach enslave them as he did the butler? She told herself that at least they’d be together, but that’s what she’d told herself when she’d been captured trying to rescue clayciaShe remembered that day. The minute she had seen the squeakers carrying off her big sister, she hadn’t hesitated to rip out throats. Unfortunately, she had been outnumbered. When they reach the castle, she had tried to escape her camouflage powers, but that hadn’t fooled daroach.That’s when he saw potential in her and demanded that she be his spy. Refusing had been pointless, because he had already had claycia as leverageShe looked back up at the others gathering around the fire. What would the squeak king do to them once they were captured? She know he wouldn’t let the nutcracker live, and even though she had only known him for a few hours, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. and she then turned to the twins and ribbon, who are engaged in a duel with their toy swords. They were all around her age, and daroach never made exceptions for childrenHer gazed stayed for a moment on adeleine. For some reason, the thought of her as daroach’s slave worried her the most. She was barely a woman and innocent, and the way the squeak king had spoken of her made elline and spinni shiver.Adeleine yawned “dear me. It’s been quite a day”That brought elline’s mind back to task at hand“Yeah” she said, faking a yawn ”we could all use the rest”The twins dashed off and returned a second later with bundles of blankets and pillows“Sleep wherever you want,” susie said , turning off the fire, “so long as it’s not near an open flame in the roof and watch you head. This place isn’t as it used to be” she pointed up to the roof “and you might not to sleep under there if it starts rainingTiff nodded “good to know”Metaknight rose “i’ll take the first watch”“Spinni’s eye widened “watch?"“The squeakers are on the lookout for us. We have to take precautions. Besides” the nutcracker looked down on his at his body “it’s kinda pointless to sleep when you’re made of woodAs metaknight walked out onto the balcony, tiff sent the spies a warning glare“Just so you know, i might sleep with one eye open"The spies both took a blanket and pillow of their own and found a spot in the corner. They both glanced over to noticed tiff settling a few feet away, probably so she keep a close watch on them. Then they noticed adeleine lying on a large cushion by the window sillElilne noticed the sudden frown on her face “Adeleine…do you, um…miss your family?”Adeleine nodded “very much. My parents are gone. I’m just an orphan living in a harsh life. It’s probably christmas morning and my cruel matron must be wondering where I am” she turned to the paintbrush fairy “do you miss you sister?”Elline looked down onto the floor and replied, “I…I would do anything to get her back”Adeleine smiled softly “don’t worry. You’ll get her back. Goodnight, elline”“Night,” elline muttered before quickly rolling her back to her with spinni and dark metaknight. Then she carefully took out the silver whistle and gazed at it guiltily. “Yeah. I’ll get her back, alright”-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------He was standing in a wood. It was cold and dark, with snow falling lightly to the ground. Daroach glanced around, wondering how he had gotten there.he jumped when something pushed him. he turned to see a group of tiny fairies. squinting, he realized they were Ripple Fairies And Floralia Fairies"Get away!" he shouted, waving his paw. "Shoo!"the fairy creatures squeaked something in their language to giggling and persisted in nudging him forward."what are you doing? stop it!"Then he heard a small, distant voice like the coo of a dove"Oh, Where you taking me, Little fairies?"he looked ahead and froze. the girl who had spoken did the same as soon as their eyes met.There she was, the young girl he had been chasing all daythe way she stood there, the hem of her simple white gown lightly touching the snowy ground, she looked like an angel from heaven. When he saw her in daytime as Mr. shine brightens his sunburst, She's nothing but a twittering robin. when night falls where Mr. Bright shone his moonbeams, he gets to see her beautiful face, her true facefor a long while, they just stared at each other. fear welled up in her eyes, thinking he was going to pounce on her at any moment, but daroach could do nothing but watch. the sight of her was too enticing to approachhe yelped as the fairies pushed him forward, dragging his cloak. another group was pushing adeleine too, tugging her white gown"no, you don't understand!" he shouted to them "She hates me!""he's an evil rat!" Adeleine exclaimed"What are you things trying to do?"he was cut off when he and the girl collided. she gasped as she looked up at him and attempted to run when the fairies put her back into place. daroach tried the same thing with the same resultthey were stuck there, standing toe-to-toe, him looking down at her. daroach didn't know whether it was the cold or her wide gaze that was keeping him frozen in place.they both stiffened when they heard music, the fairies started dancing with the snowflakes around them, singing softly, but joyfully. before they knew it, his paw was being pulled toward her waist and her hand in his other paw."Oh, no, no, no!" Daroach insisted"No, I don't..." adeleine uttered at the same timeshe gasped as she was lifted and brought to his chest. daroach gulped was now pressed fully against her, not sure what to do now, she met his eyes again, her fear even clearer now. She felt her heart twist when they pressed. Which Actually Felt Quite Nice, Like It Was Its Own Form Of Closeness, In A Way.his instincts told him to drop her and run, but they also told him to keep holding her. as his paw tightened around her, he felt a strange sense of... completeness. she was so small, yet fit perfectly in his arms.the fairies fluttered by their ears, this time speaking his own language:"Dance! Dance!"they stared at each other again, giving equal gulps. after a long while, daroach shrugged and guided her in a waltz. he was surprised when she suddenly yelped and wrapped her arms around him. it took him a second to realize she was afraid of slipping from his grasp. he tightened his hold on her and whispered:"don't worry. I won't let you fall"Adeleine looked up at him, in the way she had while tending his burns. the fear from earlier had been replace with fascination, as if she were under a spell, the reality was that he was the one under her spell. Adeleine marveled at the gray squeaker's strength as he picked up a young lady, with how secure and tender daroach held her in his armsFrom then on, the dance was easy. Every step he took with her was smooth and light. It was like their floating on a cloud of happy dreams. While so swiftly they moves, Aligning their feet, Light steps they both take, Tip toeing they float away, Zig – zagging on the frozen ground.It came to the point of neither of them cared what they were doing and just followed their instinctsas the music drew to a close, daroach twirled her and moved her into a slow dip. her breath became sharper was she gazed up at him. the way he held her made her forget everything for a moment.it wasn't the squeak king she saw in those yellow eyes, but a tender, lonely creature.“Metaknight isn’t the only one under a curse”Adeleine gasped at the voiceHowever she quickly forgot it as Daroach just did nothing more as daroach's paw lifted to lightly brush the snowflakes out of her face. he has grown quite fond of the childlike face, her true face.Daroach closed his eyes, she closed hers too."I wish I could paint our love... These moments in vibrant hues."-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Daroach sat up in bed in alarm, crying out "WHAT AM I DOING?!"he glanced around the dark bedroom, panting heavily, nobody was around to see him in this state at this hour."What a dream," he sighed, wiping the sweat off his brow. "what a dream"He remembered it, every little detail: Adeleine's twinkling eyes to the snowflakes entangling into her soft short hair, they were dancing in the snow, the snow dancing around them, and near the end of the dance...he shook his head. What could've caused him to have a dream like that? He'd never dreamed about such things before.feeling he should wallow in these thoughts somewhere else, Daroach climbed out of bed and sauntered to the throne room. he plopped on his throne and stared up the ceiling"That girl," he whispered, clutching his head, "why can't I get her out of my mind? Why can't I stop thinking about her hazel chocolate eyes, or her sweet smile, or her gentle face, or her...soft, silky hair...?”he shook his head again as he rolled onto his stomach. “WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!"He was now facing the smaller throne, that had been empty ever since he had overthrown the fairy queen. He stared at it for a long time.he then imagined somebody sitting in the throne: a young lady in a colorful and elegant gown; a small, golden crown resting atop her black haired head.She is very graceful like a fleurina. her brown eyes turned to look at him, her gentle lips curling into a loving smile. She is quiet and self-assured, with a soft, gem-like heart.the girl of his fantasy was adeleinehis eyes widened at this realization and then he rubbed his chin in thought. He was getting nowhere with the fairy queen, and it was true what she said, he could have any girl he wanted. but it could be possible for him to have this girl? He couldn't deny that she had bewitched him in a way that she was all he could think about. He remembered the kind look she had given him. Was it possible that perhaps, in time, that kindness develop into ....love?it was surprising how well he accepted this fact: Nobody in dreamland loved him. despite the fact that he was the king of everything, nobody loved him. not even his followers cared for him. they only obeyed him out of fearyes. that's what he had been missing. that the emptiness he had felt not long after taking over dreamland. he had everything...except somebody who loved him.he thought over the witch sisters' words and that perhaps they hadn't been talking nonsense after all. his bell was pointing him toward his destiny: Adeleine. his dream confirmed it.He has dreams that are too big for a common squeakhe looked back at the throne and realized how much he really wanted a queen. the more he thought about Adeleine as his queen, his wife, his eternal companion; the quicker his heart raced. it came to a point where he couldn't picture anybody else sitting on that throne but her.the idea was now engraved in his mind. as soon as her brooch was removed from her neck and he could finally touch her, he would take her as his bride. the sweet girl clearly wasn't fond of him now, but once she saw how much he had to offer her, she would be hisDaroach sighed contently. "Then I'll never be alone again”-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Adeleine lay awake under her blanket, having been unable to sleep after that distressing dream. At first, it had been wonderful being greeted by the fairies, but when the squeak king had appeared…Her feelings about his role in the dream were mixed. The sight of him had been alarming, yet he had looked equally surprised to see her. Then the fairies started pushing them together into a dance. She remembered the sensation of being in his strong but gentle arms. Surprisingly, she hadn’t been afraid, not while he was holding her.She blushed at the fact that they almost kissed before she had woken up.What did this dream mean? She shouldn’t be thinking about the squeak king in this way! He was the enemy!“Metaknight isn’t the only one under a curse” the voice said in her head againThat puzzled her as well. What curse? At first she thought it might be about his appearance and that he was cursed like a prince in any fairy tale. Or had the voice meant the curse of his bell.She tried to think back to the story. Had it said anything about daroach being under a curse then?“but anybody would act horrible if they had not been shown any kindness in their life” the voice saidThis was true. If daroach had looked this way his entire life, not many would’ve been kind to himShe shook her head at the thought. That gave him no excuse for his actions. He had brought misery to his subjects, misery to this land, and most likely intended to bring misery to her as well. A monster like him doesn’t deserve pity, especially from her. she is well aware that the miserable state of affairs in dreamland, from the large-scale poverty to the frequent abuse of power, largely come back to daroachshe would fight to bring order back to the land.Adeleine turned when she heard a soft sigh. Through the window, she saw the nutcracker out from the balcony. Curious, and anxious to clear her thoughts. She rose from the sill, wrapped the blanket around her, and walked quietly out to him.“Hey,” she whisperedMetaknight glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “You should be asleep”“I could say the same as you”He shrugged “I told you. I’m wood. I don’t really get tired. You know. Unless you use a really good sleep spell like the one daroach cast on us today”Adeleine joined him against the rail and gazed up at the sky. “Were you thinking about the fairy queen?”He nodded solemnly “she’s alive. That much I know. Daroach has every intention of marrying her, but I know she would never accept such a fate. She knows I’ll always come for her”She hung her head. “You must really love her”He sighed “ Ever since I first Laid eyes on her. But don’t get me wrong, She’s more than beautiful. Nobody is able to spread as much love as her. She always had an ear for her subjects and was willing to solve any problem thrown at her.” he chuckled “I was scared to talk to her at first, but she was so understanding”Adeleine looked off to the side “she sounds wonderful”Metaknight turned to her sympathetically. “Adeleine…I…I know how you young girls often feel certain…attraction towards their rescuers, but I can’t…”“I know,” she muttered, her black hair falling over her eye “you have the fairy queen. It’s just that…” she sighed “this is like one of those fairy tales i read books as a child, and i figured that if I ever found myself in a fairy tale, I would find a sort of… prince charming, you know?”She turned to him, but kept her gaze down. “I know i’m not the one who break, but… there must be some reason for me to being here, right? I mean I know I’m here because of the silly brooch, but… if i didn’t have, I didn’t have it, I’d just…well…me”“That’s not true,” the nutcracker said, laying a hand on her shoulder“Oh, really?” she said, looking up. “Name one useful thing I’ve done I’ve done on this quest so far to prove my brilliance” “You fended off the squeakers”“Without the brooch”He opened his mouth but then paused. After much thinking, he spoke again“What about elline and spinni? You helped us learn to trust them. Well, tiff’s still a little weary, but…”“What’s your point?”“My point is you’re about to see the goodness in People when others can’t and are able to bring out that goodness” he chuckled as he pointed to her brooch “i don’t think you need a magical brooch for that.“And… when we get to the dream palace,” she murmured, “what then? I’m not sure how this brooch works, and i don’t think there’s any goodness in…”She trailed off she recalled her dream and her strange encounters with the squeak king“Hey,” he whispered reassuringly, “don’t underestimate yourself. I mean anybody can do anything if they put their mind to it”Adeleine said nothing for a while and then nodded, even though no question had been asked.“Now get some sleep,” said metaknight “tomorrow’s gonna be rough”“Right,” she replied softly.She started to leave, but after a moment’s hesitation, she turned back and gave the nutcracker a peck on his wooden cheek. He looked at her with wide eyes.“What was that for?”“Just…making sure“ she blushed slightly ”also…thanks”metaknight smiled kindly “Goodnight”“Goodnight”Elilne remained still as she listened to adeleine’s footsteps. It was just her luck that the young girl had chosen to wake up minutes after the paint brush fairy. Now elilne wait for her to fall back asleep, so she could carry out her mission.When she heard the young girl’s body make contact with her makeshift bed, elilne took the whistle out to gazed at it again. It glinted in the moonlight coming through the window.She turned it in her hand, contemplating her next movie. If she blew this whistle, everyone here would become daroach’s slaves. If she didn’t blow the whistle, she would never get claycia back.She didn’t want these good people to get hurt. She never wanted any of them she had ratted on to get hurt. These people in particular trusted her one of them had jumped off a cliff just to prove her so-called loyalty. They were counting on her to help them in their quest, But claycia was counting on her even moreElilne shut her eyes tight as she slowly raised the silver whistle to her lips.
The Star Warrior Nutcracker Ch. 6When tiff pushed the final branch aside, the others gasped. Before them was a waterfall, pouring a rainbow of colors into the lake below the colors fell beside each other so evenly that it was as if a rainbow had melted atop a cliff“Welcome to rainbow falls,”tiff announced“Amazing,” adeleine whispered“Cool!” ribbon squeaked“I’ve always heard of this place,” metaknight grinned, “but I’ve never seen it myself”tiff’s smile disappeared when he looks around “not amazing as it used to be”The lake was surrounded by charred wood and run-down buildings that appeared to have once stalls “This use to be a trader’s exchange,” tiff explained “people would come from all over the land of dreams to trade all kinds of things. When daroach took over, they start selling stuff on the black market. That’s how we got our weapons and supplies. daroach must’ve found out and had the sqeakers ransack the place”“So much for supplies,” adeleine sighed“Let’s look around,” metaknight declared. Maybe the squakers left some things behind”tiff shrugged “couldn’t hurt”adeleine put her hand to her grumbling tummy “any chance there might be food here?”“How does the rainbow water taste?” ribbon asked, leaning over the lake and making a ripple with her hand“We won’t recommend it,” tiff warned “liquefied rainbow taste sweet”kirby suddenly flinched and glanced over his shoulder “poyo?”“what” tiff repliedadeleine spun around. “Did you want something, metaknight?” The nutcracker tilted his head “No”tiff shrieked and pulled out her whip. “Who pinched me?!”ribbon screamed “Somebody pulled my dress! kirby, are you doing this?”Kirby is all the way over here “How could I have possibly…?”She was cut off as a head popped out of the lake and cried, “BOO!”kirby yelped and fell backwards. The figure emerged fully from the water, completely drenched in rainbow. ribbon grabbed kirby while metaknight and tiff made their weapons ready.“What is it?!” ribbon gasped “a swamp creature?”The figure shook the rainbow water, revealing nothing there.“No!” adeleine squeaked “It’s a ghost!”They heard a laugh where the rainbow creature once was. Slowly a golden squeaker with a red scarf and shades, clutching his stomach. He was laughing Along with a fairy who strongly resembles a paintbrush. She has peach skin on her face and hands, pink blush, blue eyes,Her rainbow hair, has a pink body adorned with a red brooch,However the only silent character who is amused at the joke is a gray body that looks like metaknight but in crimson sabatons, and His mask is essentially the same as metaknight's, although it shows a large scar-like scratch on its left side.“HA! HA! HA! You all should’ve seen the looks on your faces! it’s is like the oldest trick in The Book!” the gold squeaker mocked, wiping a tear. “Oh man, I haven’t had this much fun in months!”“Who are you?” metaknight demanded, raising his sword“Whoa, whoa, easy there, buddy!” the joking rat exclaimed, holding up his paws “I was just fooling around, metaknight! No need to get hasty on me!”He raised an eyebrow “How’d you know my name?”The gold squeaker chap hesitated for a second. “Everybody knows who you are. You were engaged to the fairy queen before daroach banished you and turned you into a nutcracker”tiff scrutinized him “How do know all that?”Gold squeaker shrugged. News travels so fast. Now, as to who I am, The name’s spinni”“Who’d you do that?” ribbon asked in wonder “Turn invisible, I mean”Spinni turned to the dark reflection“My buddy here was an invisibility cloak. Those who live in the Mirror world has the power of invisibility like glass. And elline here helps out with her camouflage by the powers of her painting skills.” spinni said laughing with elline ”Anyway I couldn’t help but overhear that you folks were looking for food”He turned around to reveal a gray sack on his side. He slipped it off, opened it and Adeleine gasped at the variety of sweets, above the rumble in her belly.“Go on, take your pick,” spinni beckoned “strawberry shortcake? Chiffon? tiramisu? Tarts? custard pudding? fresh macaroons?, choux creme? cookies?”“Hold on!” tiff shouted, slapping adeleine’s hand before she can reach the sack. “We shouldn’t be taking from strangers! Especially this one!”“What do you mean?”“Don’t play innocent, squeaker! Thought I wouldn’t recognize you, huh? You’re that spy we caught last week!”“Oh, right,” spinni said, smiling nervously as he shuts his bag up. “I forgot about that”Metaknight pulled adeleine back and moved his sword closer to the spy. “Does he work for daroachl?”“we’re not spies” elline insisted“You were snoopin’ around the orchard at cappy town!”tiff declared “No doubt trying to find our hideout! Ya know what his excuse was? she was lookin’ for her sister!”“I was only looking for my sister!”“A likely story! If that’s all ya wanted, why you run away? Had to tell your boss what you found out, eh?”“Of course I ran away! You punks were about to skewer me with your weapons! I really was looking for my sister!” she sighed sadly “She was captured by the the squeaks”Adeleine looked at the spy sympathetically. “What’s your sister’s name?”“claycia,”replied elline with a sniff. “When those squeakers invaded rainbow falls, we got separated. When I couldn’t find her, I Could only assume the squeakers had taken her”“That’s so sad” ribbon said with a frown“Oh come on, It’s a bunch of lies!” tiff said, cracking her whip. “Tell the truth, or you’re gonna have to answer to betsy here!”“Wait!” adeleine exclaimed “I think their is telling the truth!”“How would you know?”he looked at the resistance leader solemnly “If my little brother was ever in trouble, I would be just as upset as elline”Tiff glanced between the two, unsure of how to respond. metaknight was just as wary.“Can you prove that you’re not a spy?” he asked spinni“Well, I’m offering you food, aren’t I?” he replied, taking a cookie out of his pack and biting into it. “See?” no poison or anything. Now are you guys hungry or what?”Tiff scowled “I know that trick! Eating the only treat that isn’t poisoned to make us eat the ones that are! You’re gonna have to alot better than that!”“How about this?” hollered a voice from aboveThe looked up to see adeleine at the top of the waterfall. metaknight glanced back at his side to verify that she was no longer there and then back up to where she was nowadeleine, what are you doing?!”The black haired girl closed her eyes and let herself fall. Everybody gasped and shrieked“adeleine, are you crazy?!” tiff shouted, rushing with the others to the bottom of the waterfallBut before they could get under her, the so-called spies caught her in his arms, a panicked look on both of elline and spinni’s face. adeleine opened her eyes and smiled“Like the resistance leader said,” spinni huffed “Are you crazy?!”“Maybe,” she shrugged, “But I’ve just proved that you’re on our side”tiff and metaknight's mouths fell open as the dark soldier lowered adeleine to the ground“Well, uh…” she stammered“I...I guess you’re in the clear,” the nutcracker said “anybody working for daroach would’ve let her fall”elline sighed in relief “Well then, now that’s settled with…” he opened his sack “Who wants some lunch?”------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!” daroach hollered, slamming a fist next to the bowl of water in front of misty smoke“It’s just as i said,” drawcia calmly, “as I had said when you first asked us about your bell: this bell will undoubtedly corrupt the soul, but will show an alternative path beyond control”daroach folded his arms “and that means what, exactly?!”She rolled her eyes, her patience wearing as thin paper as his “Magical amulets tend to have minds of their own, especially your bell. It’s connected to the randomness of the universe and is drawn to random events, such as those that often lead to one’s destiny”The squeak king glanced down at his bell. “So what you’re saying is that when this thing glowed, it was pointing to my destiny?”paintra shrugged “Most likely”He blink as he stared off into space “Then adeleine…”It was drawcia’s turn to blink “Excuse me?”He lifted the bell “Her brooch. I was glowing too. Hers and mine… they connected”The witch sisters’ eyes widened “Oh, dear”“What do you mean ‘oh dear?’ what do you know?”drawcia gulped “Well...it is possible that adeleine’s brooch isn’t that different from yours. I mean dreams are often associated with…”The witches trailed off and glanced down at their feet. daroach narrowed his eyes at them“What?”“Oh nothing,” she said quickly. “It’s just a silly thought”He grabbed the front of their dresses “TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW!”“Alright, alright! I think her brooch is connected with yours because dreams is often associated with… caring for somebodyHe raised an eyebrow “Meaning?”“You know” she winced, afraid of what she was about to say that would made him explode “Love” they both saidHe dropped the two “LOVE?! With that her...me...her and me...are you messing with me?!”“It’s all just a theory! Forget we said anything!”“Good!”He huffed as he stomped out of their cell. “Me! Master of the squeakers! Love! Bah! The very idea!”Yet as he slammed the door, the sweet girl’s face came to mind again. The way she looked at him… Nobody had ever looked at him that way before. So sympathetically, so caring, so…He looked down at his hands and chest. He could still feel the tingle from her soft hands running over his burns. She hadn’t shuttered his paws and chest when she touched him. He closed his eyes and sighed at the memory of her soft touch and her sweet motherly like tone. Soon he imagined those hands touching his face, her beautiful eyes gazing into his as she leaned forward and…He snapped out of his thoughts and turned to see a squeaker standing awkwardly at the cell door. daroach blushed for a moment and then scowled“WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT, SCUMBAG?!The squeaker stood upright and didn’t say anything further“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” daroach huffed, stomping awayHe reached the throne room and began pacing, thinking about what had passed between him and the young girl. Were the witch sisters telling the truth? Was his bell really leading him to his destiny? Was the brooch doing the same for adeleine? If their necklaces were pulling them towards each other, did that mean…?daroach shook his head. “Absurd! I’m the King of the squeaks! Love And Great Power don’t mix! Neither do girls and squeakers!”He paused and tapped his chin “Then again, that brooch’s power did seem awfully violent for a brooch. Chaotic even. And the girl wearing it…”No woman had ever been to get the best of him like that. Twice now, she had done so. Sure, she had that brooch protecting her, but no doubt she was channeling its power. After all, it only seemed to really do its job when she got upset. He still wasn’t quite sure how her brooch could repel him yet be drawn to him at the same time. It didn’t make a lick of sense.“Then again,” he said grinning slightly, ”what’s the point is there in all this making sense?”Seeing his telescope perched on the windowsill, he looked through it and scouted the land. He spotted the nutcracker’s party at the rainbow falls, having a picnic lunch with his spies. He chuckled as he watched his minions making splendid progress in his plan already. Then his eye fell upon adeleine and everything else was forgotten. He focused on her face, glowing as she smiled. He couldn’t help but smile too as her silky, black hair shimmered in the sunlight and her brown eyes sparkledShe was like an angel: so innocent, so pure, so beautiful, so perfect….The list went on forever, and he found he could not take his eye off of her. Warmth welled up inside his chest with every second he watched her. This warm feeling is like a rainbow blossoming in his heart. All he could think about was what it would be like to have her here, in his arms, to be allowed to run his finger through her hairHe shook himself back to his senses. Why was he thinking like this? So what if the girl was pretty? So what if the mere sight of her made him feel all warm and giddy inside? That didn’t mean he…He shook his head again. No, it wasn’t like that. He just... had an inexplicable need to have her near. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how much he wanted her right then and there.Then he wondered what he would do with her once she was here and the brooch had been removed from her. He could make her his own personal maid, so that she would always be near and he could look at her whenever he wanted. Heck, As his slave he could do whatever he wanted with her, even hold her close and…For the hundredth time that day, he shook his head wildly. What had put that thought into his own head?The whole matter was making his head spin in confusion. All he knew was that he couldn’t wait any longer to have the girl. He looked back through the telescope and saw the group had packed up their picnic and started on their way again. He focused on his spies, who were looking very nervous.“You better not fail me,” daroach muttered as he turned his attention back to adeleine. “I want her now”-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------spinni tried his best to hide his guilt from the others. So far, things had been going smoothly. Elline hadn’t expected Adeleine to jump off a cliff, but catching her had been enough to gain the group’s trust. kirby seemed particularly enraptured by spinni’s stories and kept asking him to demonstrate his friends’ powers, which wowed ribbon and adeleine as well. Even the nutcracker seemed to be won over by him.However, It was tiff that still had her suspicions. spinni cursed himself for forgetting his run-in with the resistance leader last week. He kept giving him wary looks, thinking about those spies who are going to stab them in the backs at any second.What bothered spinni most about the rebel that he was right.He glanced at the brooch around adeleine’s Neck. the sooner he got this over with, the better.“Say, Lass” spinni said casually. “that ‘s a nice brooch you’ve got there. Where’d you get it?He reached out to touch it, only for adeleine to swat his hand away“I’m Sorry” the black haired girl said apologetically. “It’s just...I don’t want you to get hurt”spinni blinked “Why?”“What’s it to ya?” tiff Demanded“I was just curious. That’s all”“Aw, go ahead and tell him” ribbon said brightly. It’s not like he can steal it anyway”metaknight shrugged “ribbon has a point”“Well,” adeleine sighed, “I don’t know why it does this, but every time somebody touches it, they’ll get hurt”“It has some kind of magic,” metaknight Explained, “magic that daroach wants. That’s why he’s been trying to kidnap adeleine. She’s the only one who can take it off”spinni pretended to be surprised. “Whoa! You’re telling me the squeak king is after you because of that brooch? That must be tough. Are you sure you want to keep it?”“I can’t just throw it away,” adeleline said, gently touching the pendant. “Whatever daroach wants it for, it must be for something awful. I can’t let him have it”“But to have the squeak king after you all the time… you sure you can handle something like that? spinni said. “Here’s an idea! How about you let someone else wear it? Someone tough, someone fearless, someone who can handle an evil overlord? some one like… I don’t know. Me?"He reached for the brooch again this time tiff came between them“Why would you wanna wear the brooch?” She asked cautiously. Now don’t tell me you want the squeak king chasing you!”“Hey, I’m just saying i can handle him,” spinni said nonchalantly “I don’t know why you wanna put this Little lady in danger like this”“The brooch protects her! She won’t stand a chance against daroach if she takes it off!”“But he won’t want her anymore if she doesn’t have the brooch"Elline bit her lip as she said this, knowing that wasn’t true“She’s Keeping it on!” Tiff exclaimed “End of discussion!”“Okay, okay!” spinni replied ”just chill out!”He turned away and groaned. Some much for that tacticAdeleine, anxious to break the tension, gently pushed tiff aside“So why don’t you tell us about your sister?” adeleine asked to ellineElline looked up in surprise. Then she figured “opening up” would get them more on her side“Claycia?” she said smiling softly “well, she’s not really my sister…”“I knew it!” tiff grunted“Let me finish! See, She found me a few years ago in the woods. Neither of us had families, so she took me under her wing. Since Then, We’ve considered ourselves sisters”Elline looked at Adeleine with wide eyes “you have siblings?”Adeleine frown suddenly “i don’t have siblings, i’m a orphan”Elline stopped her tracks “say what?”“Daroach shrank her” metaknight explained“Whoa, whoa, whoa! You mean to tell me she's from the land of the giants?” spinni askedSpinni and elline genuinely wanted to know, a daroach had not told her where the young girl was from.“Um, I Guess,” adeleine uttered “is that what you call it?”Elline snickered. “So..so you used to be…” she flew upward about fifty feet. “This high?!”“uh…I think?”Oh…oh, boy! The golden squeaker laughed with elline as she returned to the ground. “No wonder the squeak king shrank ya! Why could’ve just stepped on him,” sprinni brought his paw firmly down on a twig, “and he would’ve been snapped like a twig!”Ribbon and Kirby giggled while metaknight chuckled.“I mean just imagine him writhing in agony and going: ‘help me, help me!’ in a teeny little voice!”“That’s horrible!” adeleine insisted, though she couldn’t help but laugh along with them“Well, it would’ve served him right!” adeleine nodded. “We probably wouldn’t be on this if I should’ve had squashed him”“Yeah," said elline, “And me And Claycia Would Be…”She trailed off, not out of sadness, but a whispering in ear“PSSST!”Confused, elline stuck her hand in her ear and twisted it.“Brushhead!”The paintbrush fairy jumped at the voice she knew all too well“A word, if you don’t mind?”“Uh…” elline uttered, glazing around at the other ”i have to uh… go over there!”“Why?” tiff asked, raising an eyebrow.“Maybe it’s just a nature call, that’s it” insisted spinniThe rebel groaned “Okay, but hurry up!Spinni flashed a smile before he, elline, and dark metaknight into the bushes. They both searched around for their master“Sir?” elline called.Doc appears in his little red saucer in front of the three spies“Message for you” as the red saucer unveils a viewscreen, revealing the squeak king“What’s taking so long?!” he demanded“You can’t expect them to just give me the brooch after knowing us for an hour! Spinni insisted “besides, she won’t take it offDaroach grunted “should’ve guessed. By the way, what was that standing about squishing Me into oblivion”Spinni shrunk under his glare “hey,hey! I didn’t mean it! I have to make them think I’m on their side, right? And… well, they’re not so hot about you”The squeak king groaned. Then he got hopeful look on his face“Tell me. Did she… like those sweets I gave you”“She?” elline asked, tilting her head“Adeleine, did she like my sweets?”“Um, sure they all did. Except that rebel leader, though i’m sure she was just being cranky. I tell ya she’s on to us, sir. I don’t know if…“Which one she eat?” The apple butter cake, though that’s not a surprise…”“Not her! Adeleine!”“Oh. she had that strawberry shortcake one. Anyway, I don’t Think the fairy and pink ball…”“When she had the first bite, did she…close her eyes in bliss, or did she blurt out how delicious it was even though her mouth was full?”She,uh… what?”“Just tell me!”“Hey, elline, spinni! “Tiff called. What are you doing in there?!”“I’m not sharing that!” spinni shouted before turning back to his boss. Look, it’ll take a while before they can fully trust us, just give us some time and…”“I can’t wait that long!” daroach growled between his teeth. “I need her now!”“But i…what?”He groaned as the saucer slowly released them. “Well, you’re just going to have to wait until they’re all asleep”“But night isn’t for a while and…”“Not for long,” the squeak king grinned"But I know a way you can get them to trust you two more. There’s a stately chateau not far from here where you can take shelter”“A chateau?” spinni said in surprise. But i thought you would’ve…’"Oh, i’ve known about it for weeks. I haven’t dismantled it yet because it’s too fun to watch”“Fun to watch?”“Oh, Right. When you get in,” he whispered, “beware of the bombs.”“Bombs?”“Okay, have fun!” Daroach waved cheerfullyWait. what do you mean by…?”But Doc puts away the view screen and flew away before the three spies could finish“Spinni, elline!” Holler tiff”s voiceRemembering their mission, the golden squeaker, the paint brush fairy, the silent knight popped out of the bush. “Yeah, what do you want?”“See!” ribbon exclaimed “I told they didn’t abandon us"Tiff is not taking her glare off the three“Sorry about that,” spinni, stretching “ we really had to go“Anybody else?” metaknight asked at the othersThe rest of group just shook their heads“then let’s press forward while it’s daylight,” the nutcracker orderedAs soon as he said that, everything went dark“what?” adeleine uttered. “But the sun wasn’t…”“It’s daroach’s work” tiff said with a sigh “ he controls the moon and the sun and he likes to turn the lights on and off whenever he pleases. You can never tell what time it is anymore”“Well we can’t travel in the dark,” metaknight observed “we should find shelter”“That might be what daroach wants us to do! He knows we’re coming for him so, so he made it night so we can’t travel!”Adeleine yawn “we have been walking a while”Spinni and elline saw this as their cue to step in “ooh! We know a place we can stay”“Really?” tiff said, raising her eyebrow in suspicion“Yeah. there’s a house around here somewhere.We, err, stumbled upon it the other day"“A house? I don’t remember any houses out here”there is! Just, um give me second to remember where?Fortunately, elline and ribbon were fast flyers for having the wings of a busy bumble bee, so they was able to sweep their surroundings in a matter of seconds. Sure enough, just done the hill was a tiny chateau. The two fairies signaled the others and gasped at the sight.“I wonder who lives here,” said metaknight“Who cares?” elline said, flying ahead with ribbon. “It’s a place to sleep, isn’t it?When they got closer, they realized that the house was falling apart. The windows were cracked and the door was hanging loosely off the hinges. One knock and it toppled over.Metaknight took the lead, he sword ready, as the six companions entered the house“Hello? He called “anybody home?Ribbon looked up and could've she a pair of bright blue eyes, which vanished immediately.“Uh guys? She whispered, clutching adeleine’s white gown. “I don’t like this place”“Beware the bombs” spinni mutteredIt looks abandoned to me,” adeleine said. “I mean who would leave their house in such a state unless nobody lived here“I never that a chateau could be so dark” adeleine shivered“ i don’t think it’s abandoned” tiff declared“How can you tell? Ribbon askedTake it from someone who’s been living in an ‘abandoned’ village for months. In these time, anybody live here wouldn’t make themselves known unless…”“NOW!”When everyone looked up to find the source of the cry, spinni was knocked in the head with an…“Apple?” The others ducked as more apples, along with tomatoes and sharpened carrot camraining do on them“What did i tell? Tiff cried, “it’s an ambush!”“Who are you?” Metaknight shouted, waving his sword, “show yourselves!”“Guys, He’s got a sword!” One high-pitched voice screeched“Never bring a sword to a bomb fight! Another voice sounding similar to the first yelled“Lo! The other voice shouted. “I’m low on ammo here!”“Then use the secret weapon!” “Lo, that’s supposed to be a secret! Said the first voice“Not anymore”“Do those sound like… children to you?” adeleine“No way!” cried tiff as a sharpened carrot whizzed past her by. “There’s no way a bunch of kids would be able too…“CHERRY BOMB!Everybody As a giant red smoke balls that look like cherries came hurdling towards them.Kirby then jumps up in front of the group and began to suck up the cherry bombs“Wait,” adeleine called out, waving her arms. “We mean you no harm! We just need a place stay for the night”“A Likely story!” cried a third voice the one who unleash the cherry bomb“No, really! We’re victimes of the squeak king! We’re on you’re side!”“Think we should listen to them, lo?” said the first voice “that one there’s too pretty to be a spy”Appearances can be deceiving, la” the the second, supposedly lo. “But that wooden boy there looks awfully familiar”“Hey isn’t that the fairy queen’s old boyfriend?” said the cherry bomber “i thought he was dead”“No it’s me!” the nutcracker insisted “I’m captain metaknight!”“And i’m the leader of the resistance!” tiff declared“That would explain it,” said the voice called La“Nevertheless,” said lo, “Susie told us not to let any strangers into the house”“It’s Okay, lololo and lalala!”The six travelers turned to the doorway to see a strange girl standing there with little bags in her floating hands. Her pink hair is like cotton candy, she looks like she’s smiling with the blush on her cheeks, and the pink and yellow orange gown makes her look like a duchess. Everything about the girl’s appearance made adeleine want to smile“You can come out now, games over” the bubblegum haired lady exclaimed“Are you sure? Lo hollered“Yes, lololo” susie nodded“Oh boy” the two voices chirpedA blue ball and a pink ball popped out of the rafters and floated down the main hall. The travelers look down at them in shockAs Adeleine had guessed, they were little children, hardly smaller than kirby, but instead of being pink, one is blue, and the other pink with a yellow ribbon“Hi!” she to travelers “my name is susie, and these are my roommates!“Hi!” the duo said with as much enthusiasm as susie“I’m lololo” said the blue one“I’m lalala” said the pink one“Spinni smacked himself on the forehead “Oh, beware of the bombs!”“You betcha!” lololo piped “you guy cross our path, and you shall face our wrath!”“So sorry about our little welcome,” susie giggled, but as you can see, we get a lot of trouble around here”“Specifically Squeakers!” lalala huffed “those big meanies!”“But they’re nothing against my cherry bomb!” susie chimed“Yeah,” tiff said “I can see that”“So who are your strangers! Susie said“Hold on, we got this!” lololo saidThe pink and blue duo drifted forth and studied the travelers carefully.“Okay We got it!”Lololo pointed at metatknight. “This nutcracker i really captain metaknight, cursed by the squeak king. He was banished to the land of the giants, where he met this girl”Lalala pointed at adeleine, “who daroach tried to kidnap, because she’s wearing a magic brooch, but he couldn’t, because the brooch protects her, so he shrank her instead.and this two here”Lololo pointed and ribbon and kirby ”their just tagging along the ride and this,”Lalala pointed at tiff, “is the leader of the resistance, but her followers were all captured by the squeak king, and this one here” Spinni and elline got very nervous when the blue ball indicated to them, “is trying to get her sister back from daroach in whatever way she can.”“All in all, they’re all off to dream castle to rescue the fairy queen and everyone else by defeating the squeak kingEverybody was was silent for a while“how do you know all that?” tiff asked“Susie taught us how to be psychic” lololo shrugged“And that’s he is the smart one,” susie said proudly, patting his head“You wouldn’t mind letting us stay for the night, would you?” metaknight asked“Of course not! We could have a sleepover!” susie gasped “Who wants s’mores?!”
The Star Warrior Nutcracker Ch. 5“So let me get this straight,” tiff said once the others had finished telling their story. “You,” she pointed at adeleine, “are from another world and daroach went after the brooch of yours, not knowing who has given you the captain turned nutcracker for christmas and he tried to kidnap you, but he couldn’t because your brooch has some freaky magic and now you are on a quest to defeat the squeak king for good, without an army backing you up?”“The army’s coming tomorrow,” metaknight explained, “But yeah, that’s pretty much it”The rebel nodded “Things in this land keeps getting stranger and stranger. I mean daroach gets that Freaky magic and turns the queen into a horrifying monster and now this!”“I’ve been meaning to ask,” said Adeleine “What’s the deal with that brooch?”“daroach didn’t have this much power,” metaknight replied grimly “after the fairy queen and I announced our engagement, daroach forced the witch sisters to tell him where to find the bell. The legend says that the owner will gain unlimited power, but it will also corrupt their souls. It was like everyone is an enemy, including oneself leading to mistrust. After the fairy queen was cursed, the sisters told me what Daroach made them do and the pieces came together”He hung his head “Those Poor sisters. I knew studying divination would get them into trouble”Adeleine puts her hand on his shoulder “They’re both strong girls. I just hope that whatever Daroach’s doing to them, they’re holding out”------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In the highest tower of the dream palace, a lone fairy was staring out a barred window. Her violet eyes were beautiful, though reddened and shadowed from many sleepless nights. Her long black braids flowed gracefully down her back, but was tangled from distress. She wore a tattered dress that was once an elegant gown fit for a queen.She sighed heavily as she looked out at the kingdom she was supposed to protect, but failed. She touched the red heart around her neck. It was the first gift her beloved had given to herShe recalled how he looked at her birthday celebration. At that time, he had been a young soldier in training, but still the handsomest young lad that had ever come to her castle. Ever since she had seen him with his shiny blue hair and kind smile, she wanted him. And when he had bowed to her and handed her that gift, color had to his cheeks. When she saw the red heart, it was her turn to blush. After she had received her gifts, he had requested a dance. She had smirked and said she was about to ask him the same.That had been the most magical night of her lifeShe had promised to treasure the heart forever, and she did not think she could break it even if she wanted to. He had given more than just a gift that day, but his heart, and that something she could never give away. A tear fell at the thought of her lost love“I wonder if the kingdom will be alright.” she whispered. “But what can i do, trapped in my room like this?”“Oh, metaknight,” she whispered touching her heart “Please, please be alive,” she looked out at the horizon “And if you are, and you still love me, please come back to me”“Oh your majesty, are you busy?” An all-too-familar voice sneered“You Know Praying will get you nowhere, your majesty, there’s no one to hear you.”The lady scowled, but she refused to face her captor “Too busy for you, Go away Daroachl! I’m not in the mood”“Oh, Come now my dear” daroach said, holding a bouquet of white roses “don’t be so cruel, it isn’t becoming for someone as lovely as yourself” daroach puts his hand up to the queen’s chin“Humph, perhaps when you let me see metaknight, I will be less cruel!”“Oh, queenie, queenie, queenie,” daroach tsked “Feeling a little down, are we, my dear?”“Very,” the fairy queen growled“Well, then perhaps my news will cheer you up. Apparently, your boyfriend has returned to the land of dreams”She turned to him with tears welling up in her eyes “metaknight’s alive?”“Oh, yes but not for long, of course”She narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth “Don’t you dare hurt him!”“It all depends,” he said looking nonchalantly at his hand “After all, I can’t have him constantly trying to defeat me”He smirked at her as he circled her. “Of course, if you reconsider my offer,” he laid his hands on her shoulders, “I just might change my mind”The fairy queen hissed as she shook him off. “I’ll never be your queen!”“Even if it’ll save your boyfriend’s life?”“metaknight wouldn’t want to that for me! He’d rather die than see me married to you! I’d rather die!”He rubbed his hands together “That can be easily arranged, but it would be a shame to destroy such a pretty face”He touched her chin with his hand and she swatted it away“Why do you still want me as your queen, anyway?” she demanded. “I thought I made it perfectly clear that I will never love you!”“Love’s not important, darling,” daroach shrugged, putting his hands behind his back “All I want is power, and what better way to gain it by marrying the fairy queen?”“You’ve already taken the land by force! You don’t need me to obtain power! You have so much power now that you can have any girl you want!”daroach tapped his chin in thought“I can have any girl that I want, can’t I?” he said, turning his back to the fairy queen ”Hmm…”His thoughts were interrupted when the door swung open and spinni burst in“Your majesty! The squeak…”“MUST YOU ALWAYS INTERRUPT ME WHEN I’M IN A MEETING?!” the squeak king boomed“S-sorry, sir, I...I just came to tell you how the resistance attacks turned out”daroach’s expression changed. “Oh. did they get the girl?”“Girl?” the fairy queen asked confusingly“Oh, that’s right, i forgot to mention. Nut boy is traveling with a new female companion.I think he might be cheating on you.”The queen crossed her arms “Nice try. metaknight would never betray me! And even if he did, marrying you wouldn’t be any better!”daroach turned to spinni “Well, did they get her?”“Um, not exactly…”daroach’s eyes narrowed as he put his hands on his hips. “What happened?”“Well, she and the nutcracker sort of escaped?”“WHAT?!” he howled, grabbing the front of spinni’s cloak. “HOW COULD SHE HAVE ESCAPED?! YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT I SENT A FULL ARMY AFTER ONE GIRL AND SHE ESCAPED?!”“The nutcracker and the rebels helped!” spinni said “But the squeakers managed to nab most of the resistance!”“Really?” daroach, his eyes gleaming with interest“Yes sir. They’re all in the courtyard right now!”daroach released spinni’s cloak“You’ll have to excuse me, your majesty,” he sneered at the fairy queen. “I have unfinished business to attend to elsewhere”“You won’t win!” the fairy queen declared as he and spinni exited the cell “metaknight will come for me and destroy you!”The squeak king chuckled in response “At least there’s one perk about keeping you here, even if you won’t be my queen. You’re just bait to lure nut boy here. Once he comes for you, I will have the pleasure of destroying you both, like I should’ve in the first place!”He slammed the door behind him and followed spinni to the palace courtyard. The squeakers had the resistance members bound by their wrists.“We’ve caught the traitors, your majesty!” doc announced“Yet you let the girl get away!” daroach growled “The nutcracker too!”“It wasn’t our fault, your majesty! The girl...she used magic of some sort from the brooch!”The squeak king groaned “Of course! That brooch is powerful! Of course it’ll protect its wearer!”He took a deep breath and looked pleasingly at the prisoners. “Well, it seems the battle wasn’t a complete loss” he laughed at them “And you all thought you could defeat me? Me? The most powerful mind in the world?” he knelt down to a cappy girl “Defeated by a bunch of puny cappy folks like you?” he lifted the cappy girl’s chin with his hand “Sorry that you went through all that trouble for nothing. You will make excellent slaves”“Hey!” the mayor hollered “Get your filthy hands off of her!”Daroach stood up and smirked at the elderly cappy “Take the old one and the children to the kitchens and put the others to work in the mines” he spoke directly to the rebels. “You all belong to me now! And if you have a problem with that, i hope you don’t mind spending the rest of eternity in the gardens”The resistance members all glared at him as the squeakers carried them off. draoach growled and started pacing. spinni watched him worriedly, as if he were going to explode at any second“There’s got to be a clean way to separate the girl from the brooch,” he thought aloud, running his hand through his hair “Or at least bring her here without struggle so that we can make her take the brooch off eventually!”“If you don’t mind me asking, your majesty,” said spinni “What’s so important about that brooch?”“That brooch is powerful, which those witches foretold would be my demise! Unless I find a way to destroy it, I’m doomed! But every time i do so much as touch the girl wearing it, Boom! A magical surge knocking me backwards and giving me a splitting headache! How could I think sending the squeakers would be any different?”Just then, his lips curled into a evil grin and touched his forehead“Oh, of course… I’ve been going about this the wrong way!” he chuckled. “Brute force isn’t the answer! What we need here is a little...diplomacy”spinni blinked “Uh, no offense, sir, but that doesn’t sound like you at all”daroach draped his cape around his shoulders. He brought out a hand mirror in his hand and admired himself. He never once loses his dignity, and resourcefulness“I can’t remove the brooch,” he mused, “But she can. She just needs a little persuasion. Besides, you know what they say, spinni. If you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself”-------------------------------------------------------------------“I’m tired!” ribbon groaned We’ve been walking for hours!”“It’s been a whole hour we left cappy town,” tiff said rolling her eyes“Yeah, but before that was a big battle and before that we were walking and before that was another battle!” the small fairy collapsed to the ground “I’m bushed!”“We could use some rest,” metaknight said, sitting on a large rock“I agree,” tiff nodded, making herself comfortable on a log with kirby “While we’re on a tight schedule, we can’t be too exhausted when the time comes to battle daroach”adeleine sighed as she sat down and leaned against a tree. She touched the brooch around her neck“I still don’t understand what’s so special about the brooch,” she muttered “I mean...what is it? And why does the squeak king want it?”Tiff shrugged “He likes power. I guess that bell wasn’t enough”“What made him so evil anyway?”metaknight shook his head “Who knows? Can’t be about his looks. The fairy queen never ostracized him for it. She made him Her advisor, after all. I guess daroach just wanted to be more than second-in-command”“But why?”“The monster is rotten to the core” tiff spat “What’s the use in questioning it if all he’s gonna do is let that rottenness show?”ribbon yawned “All this philosophical thinking is making me tired”kirby mimicked her gesturetiff stretched as he also yawned “I guess whipping those squeakers really took it outta me”metaknight didn’t say anything, but his eyes were closed“Maybe some sleep would do us good,” tiff said wearily as she sprawled across the log.The fairy yawned again as they nodded off. adeleine, not feeling the least bit tired, looked at them“What’s wrong with everybody?”“Adeleine…”Adeleine heard the sound of the voice. It was soft and high, yet she could hear it loud and clear“Adeleine…”She stood up and tried to pinpoint the source of the voice“Hello?” she called “Is somebody there?”She gasped as a trail of small hearts and stars past her“Adeleine…”She blinked in alarm, for the voices seemed to be coming from the end of the trail. It seemed to be beckoning for her to follow. Her instincts told her to run, but her curiosity got the better of her. As the trail drifted away, she tripped over the snow trying to catch up with them“Wait!” she shouted “Who are you? How do you know my name?”The trail led her to a cave and even though she was afraid of the dark, she blindly went in. She looked around and her fear lessened once she realized the cave wasn’t that big. However, it returned when she saw that the trail had vanished“Hello?” she called weaklyAdeleine squealed when the entrance was suddenly barricaded with rocks, sealing her in darkness.“You know, My little prism, i don’t think you would be so gullible to track down a trail of hearts and stars”She gasped in recognition of the voice.Just then, sparks lights up the dark. One by one, the torch on each wall burst like fiery clovers. The candles reveal a sweet smelling odor. They’ve brought the cave to life to every corner. Instantly, walls of the cave erupted into life. The torches are lit so she could see the smirking face of the squeak king. Adeleine backed away but realized her action was futile when her back hits the wall“I must say,” Daroach chuckled, advancing on her, “It is a real pleasure to see you again, Miss Adeleine”She winced as he reached out his hand. She wasn’t sure what she had expected him to do, but it certainly wasn’t what he ended up doing. He was brushing his fingers against her short hair and pulling loose strands over her ear. He pulled out a single orange roseShe opened her eyes in confusion. Why did he keep touching her this way?“No need to fear me, dear,” he whispered “I won’t hurt you”It could’ve been her imagination, or a trick, but from the way he was looking at her, she almost believed he was serious. His tender touch both calmed and frightened her. Her fear took over as she slapped his hand away. He scowled but quickly relaxed“Right then,” he said, rising to his full height “shall we get down to business” he frowned at her quivering. “Look, I’m not here to hurt you. I’m unarmed…”Her jaw dropped as the squeak king reveals he had not bring triple star wand by his side“I carry a white flag...:”“I come in peace. I just came to negotiate, so you fear me trying to abduct you this time”Adeleine still hadn’t moved from her spot against the wall and staring at him unsurely“Well,” He huffed, crossing his arms. “Don’t you have anything to say?”She opened her mouth, but not even a squeak came out“Fine,don’t talk,” he said, crossing his arms “Anyway, here’s my proposition. You want to go home, right? You want to be in your right size again and return to your cruel matron, with my bell, I can grant your wish. All you have to do is give me that brooch, and you can go home”Adeleine puts her hand to her brooch and gets up the courage to say “Wh...what...What do you want it for?”“Surely by now you realize the power it holds. Why wouldn’t I want it?” He held out his hand “So hand it over”“No”He raised an eyebrow “No?”She gulped but tried to stay firm. “You...you obviously want it for something evil. If I gave it to you, you might become more powerful and...you’ll hurt metaknight and my friends!”He scoffed “Friends? You only just met them in one day! And why are you so attached to that nutcracker, anyway? You know he already has a girlfriend, right?”Her mouth opened in astonishment “I...I...I know that! And I don’t care!”“Oh, come now! A young, innocent girl like you, rescued by a tall, handsome, young man? Of course you would fall for him!” he chuckled as he turned his back to her “Even without the fairy queen, he’d never care for you, of course. You’re just a silly, gullible girl!”She scowled “I’m not a girl! I’ve just become a mature lady Last Month!” true she did become mature in november. When she’s with the orphanage, she sees the stores packed with customers who want to do early shopping for christmas, however some shoppers included her matron became greedy and go berserk for cheap prices which includes human dogfights. Her wisdom knew better.He turned back to her, his eyes glinting with interest. “Really?” he rubbed his chin as he studied her “Just old enough to be married, eh?”Her eyes widened at the odd question “um..maybe?”the gray squeaker noticed her coat wallet from her pocket and pulled It out to reveal the wallet's photo of Adeleine's parents on one side and their poem written in gold on the other.“My, My, My, What Lovely Parents You Have, My Dear. Your Parents Must Be So Proud To Have Such A Beautiful, Adorable, Darling, Sweet, Precious, Little Girl”“It’s a real surprise no man has claimed you yet” he reached out his hand again “Such a pretty thing…”“Don’t you touch me” Adeleine commanded, doing the same place as before“You’re right, I’m wasting time. So will you give me the brooch or not?”“No!”He Shrugged “Pity. I didn’t want to do this the hard way”She raised an eyebrow as Daroach started to put on a pair of gloves“You can’t take my brooch,” she declared “It’ll burn you!”He smirked “that’s what the gloves are for, darling”With the speed of a Fire Lion, he lunged towards her and grabbed her brooch before she could jump out of the way. The ribbon glowed and sparked as he pulled at it, but his gloves seemed to shield his hands from the pain. Seeing this, Adeleine attempted to push his hands off, but they were stronger than her hands. Smoke was coming from his gloves indicating that the power from the brooch would burn through to his hands any moment, so daroach had to act quicklyHe reached behind Adeleine’s neck and fiddled with the snapped button. It was difficult with his gloves on, so he pulled at it some more, gritting his teeth. The witches hadn’t been kidding about the magical lock.“Get off of me!” Adeleine grunted, pushing at his chest.“Give me the brooch!” he growled“I Said Get Off!”daroach reeled back with a scream. Adeleine screamed too when she saw him burst into flames“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! I'M BUUURNIIIING!!!” he screechedAdeleine watched in amazement as he twirls in his own flames around the cave, waving his hands wildlyShe decided this was her chance to escape but remembered that daroach had sealed off the exit. She glanced around but saw no other way out of the small, confined space. She looked back at the freighted squeak king and felt a pang of pity. She really shouldn’t be feeling the need to help the monster who was trying to steal her brooch and or kidnap her, but that wasn’t what she saw when she looked at him.She looked around for something useful and spotted a snowdrift which must’ve formed before the exit had been sealed. She approached daroach.“Wait!” she cried “Calm down!”He looked at her as if she were from another planet, which wasn’t far from the truth actually“Over there, in the snow!”daroach looked in the direction she was pointing and didn’t hesitate to rush over to the snowdrift and plunge right in. the snow sizzled and began to melt as it put out the fire. daroach let out a relieved sigh and cringed“Let me see,” Adeleine said, holding out her hand“Don’t touch me!” he snapped“Please?”His expression softened when she looked up at him with those big brown eyes. What he saw in them surprised him. Usually when others looked at him, it was with fear or disdain. But the look this lady was giving him was sympathetic and pleadingHe glanced at his wounds and reluctantly showed them to her. Much of his body had been burned, revealing the red, badly blistered skin beneath, all black and charred.“Oh dear,” she whispered, taking off his gloves.“Ouch!” daroach shouted, wrenching his hands awayAdeleine wished she had some aloe leaves with her, but there weren’t any plants arounds.It wasn’t long that Adeleine perked up with an idea opening out into pulling out her paintbrush from her robe pocketDaroach’s eyes widened as she brought out her brush“What are you doing?”Adeleine stepped and skipped so gracefully like a pretty little ballerina as she waved her brush like a wand, leaving a golden light trailing in mid-air. the golden line formed into a shape of a large cotton bandage roll.She divided the large piece of bandage into and placed them in one hand, holding out the other towards daroach.“Give me your arm,” she softly commandedHe was confused, but some unknown force made him comply with her command. She wrapped one piece of cloth around his arm while he winced in pain“Careful!” he whined “It hurts”She bit her lip as she giggled. It astonished him. For he had never heard her laugh before and it was like hearing a tinkling bell. It also enraged him when he realized she was laughing at him“I’m thrilled that you find my pain amusing,” he said sarcastically“Sorry,” Adeleine said, snickering. “I’m not laughing at your pain. It’s just that you’re whining like a child”“Well, excuse me, young miss, but it’s hard to be calm when you have third-degree burns!”“They’re only second-degree”He huffed “As if that makes a difference”Once she had finished bandaging his arms, she moved on to the wounds on his chest. daroach’s confusion rose as he watched her“I don’t have the proper medicine,” she replied, her eyes not leaving her work, “But the bandages should help protect the burns from infection”“No, I mean why are you so...nice to me? Or did you forget that I just tried to steal your brooch?”She shrugged. “Well, I couldn’t just let you burn now, Could, I?“Yeah, but you could’ve...okay, so there’s nowhere for you to escape, but still, why bother helping me?”She sighed “I did this to you, so it’s my responsibility to make it right”“Your brooch did this, not you” he said “your silly old brooch, indeed! What does setting someone on fire have to do with you?”Adeleine raised an eyebrow at the name he gave her brooch, but decided not to question as she had finished bandaging“There we go,” she said, lightly kissing his chest and paws “Feel any better?”He was stunned to silence at her sudden gesture. Helping with his wounds was one thing, but kissing them? He had just tried to rip her brooch off her neck and she was kissing him? Even if it was just his chest and his paws, no one had ever dared to kiss him! Sure, some of them had kissed his feet, but only out of fear. She had kissed his chest and paws willingly, without needing to be threatened or commanded.The girl was becoming more and more of a puzzle to him by the minuteHe only now just realized that she was looking up at him, awaiting his answer. His lips quivered as he struggled to speak“M-m-much,” he stammeredThey stared at each other in silence, his bandaged hands in her’s. As he gazed into those gorgeous hazelnut-colored eyes, he tried to comprehend how this girl could be looking at him so calmly, holding his hands as if it were nothing, allowing any part of him to even touch her.Adeleine looked down and gasped. He followed her gaze and saw that the bandages had fallen from him, which had miraculously healed completely. Had he healed himself without even trying?But that wasn’t the only strange thing. Adeleine's brooch was glowing and slowly lifting. Feeling something strange around his neck, daroach looked down and saw his bell doing the same. They watched as the two trinkets rose and moved towards each other. Eventually, the pendants met and entwined. Their wearers looked up and froze at how close they were.daroach glanced down at their glowing, entwined necklaces and back to her“You,” he whisperedAdeleine blinked “What?”She was merely a breath away. It would take just one swift motion for their lips to meet. He found himself focusing on her mouth, considering that possibly.Without thinking of the consequences, he closed his eyes and started leaning forward. Adeleine’s eyes widened when she realized what he was about to do. Panicking, she brought her hands to his face and pushed him awayA loud boom erupted from both their necklaces, sending to shockwaves knocking them backwards. The small explosion was enough to clear the cave exit Adeleine didn’t pay much attention to this as she was too busy staring in astonishment at the large rodent lying limp across from her“What was that?!” she screamedHe wasn’t sure if she was talking about the magical phenomenon or his attempt to kiss her“What was that?!” she shouted again, pointing to her lipsSo it was the latter. He groaned as he struggled to rise“I...I was…”“Adeleine!”They turned to see ribbon appear at the cave mouth“We’ve been looking every…”The fairy squealed when she saw daroach, who cursed silently to himself for only using a temporary sleep spell. He looked at Adeleine and decided he should take her before the others arrived. To save the effort, he held his bell to teleport her into his armsHe waited.And waited.Nothing happenedHe stared at his bell in confusion and tried again, but Adeleine remained on the other side of the cave“What?” he uttered“daroach!” Just as he had predicted. The nutcracker and the other two appeared and stood defensively in front of Adeleine. metaknight drew his sword, tiff made her whip ready and ribbon waved her shoe.daroach grunted in annoyance. He could kill them all right now, but that wouldn’t help him get the brooch. Even without her bodyguards, he still couldn’t touch the girl. Also if her companions were, there would be no one to protect her from the dangers of the forest. Even with her brooch, she could still get lost and for some reason, he didn’t want anything unfortunate happening to her.Besides, what was the point in destroying them right now when they were already heading to his castle?daroach smirked as he rose to his full height. “You’ve won this round, my little beauty, But I will get that brooch! And when I do, You’ll spend the rest of your life as my slave!”Adeleine gasped and ribbon puts her arm in front of her“You should’ve taken my offer, Sweetheart,” the squeak king sneered. “Oh, and thanks for the burns” he pulled out his cane erupted into flames. “Why don’t I repay the favor?”At first, Adeleine thought he was going to throw at her when it caught metaknight’s hand. He dropped his sword and started waving his burning hand wildly. Daroach laughed and blew a kiss at adeleine“Till next time, Darling!” he mocked before wrapping his cape and vanishedAfter getting over the shock, Adeleine directed the nutcracker’s hand to the same snowdrift and put off the fire“Oh, thank goodness!” tiff heaved, placing her hand over her heart“Is it bad?” ribbon asked worriedlymetaknight retracted his hand. The wooden surface was now blackened“Not much,” he sighed “I’ll still be able to use it”“Adeleine, what happened?” tiff inquiredAdeleine was breathing heavily, afraid to answer the questions“Give her some air,” metaknight said waving them off “she’s been through a lot” he spoke softly “now Adeleine, very slowly, Tell Us what happened”She glanced at all of them and took a deep breath “I...I heard somebody call my name and… this trail… it led me to this cave and… daroach, He...he said he’d send me home if i give him my brooch”“Seriously, what’s all this fuss about jewelry?” tiff demanded“Are you alright, Adeleine? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”“No,” Adeleine replied. She suddenly snickered. “Actually, I think I hurt him a lot more than he hurt me”Everybody stared at her, confused to what was humorous about the sentence“Come on,” tiff, standing up. “ I left my traveling gear back at cappy town, but luckily I know a place where we might get some supplies. It’s not from here. We should get goin’.”The others nodded and followed the resistance leader. When Adeleine didn’t move, metaknight turned back“Are you okay?”She looked and nodded without saying a wordThe recent events were still playing through her head. For one moment, she didn’t have any fear or resentment towards the squeak king. Seeing him hurt and vulnerable made him seem less menacing, and in that moment where their necklaces joined and they gazed into each other’s eyes…She wasn’t sure what exactly had passed between them, but it was almost as if they had some sort of… connectionHe had put on the evil villain facade in the end, but after seeing that mask fall for a moment, adeleine was beginning to wonder if he really was evil as he appeared.----------------------------------------------------------------------“Ha! Read ‘em and weep, snail!” spinni laughed showing his cards to escargoon and elline“What?!” the servant looked a them in astonishment “Hey, wait a minute! How’d you get five aces?! You cheated, you sneaky rat!”He looked at him jadely, “oh come on, goonie, we’re working for an evil overlord here So We gotta adapt to our circumstances.”The three jumped back as the aforementioned evil overlord appeared on the top of their card game“Gods, I wish he’d stop doing that,” escargoon whispered“Back already, your majesty?” spinni said, smiled up to him “How’d it go?”He gripped his neck angrily. “Well let’s see here… I don’t have the brooch or the girl. How do you think it went?!”He tossed him to the ground, but spinni didn’t cry out. He was used to this by now. The three minions watched as their king began pacing the throne room“How to get it off her neck?” he muttered repeatedly “How to get it off her neck?”“If you don’t mind me asking, sir,” spinni said carefully, “why go through all this trouble? I mean the girl and the nutcracker are already on their way here. Why not just back ’em when they get here?”“Because,” daroach growled, "by the time they get here, the girl will have figured out how to use that brooch against me and my reign will be over! I need to separate her from the brooch before she learns its full potential! But I can’t even touch her without blowing up into flames. I can’t use my magic to bring her here, and she wouldn’t take my deal! She’s too smart for that!”“Well,” escargoon shrugged, ”maybe because the brooch knew you were trying to harm her, it fought back. Maybe if you were nice to her, it...wouldn’t...fire?”Daroach, spinni and elline gave him odd looks. The servant grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck“Of course, I could be wrong”“Now hold on,” daroach said “I can’t believe i’m saying this, escargoon, but you may be onto something”escargoon blinked “really? Uh oh”The squeak king headed toward the window. “I can’t touch her because i’m her enemy, but if an allie touched her…”“I just gave him an idea, didn’t I?” the servant whispered to the yellow rat and paintbrush fairy“Yeah, you did” elline replied bluntlyescargoon stood up “if you need me, i’ll be scrubbing floors”“And she would trust someone with her brooch,” daroach mused, paying no heed to escargoon's departure. “Or at least somebody she thinks is her friend…”He turns to his three minions as his thoughts come together. The look he was giving him made spinni and elline uncomfortable. they knew that look all too well. The king was planning something dastardly.His suspicions were confirmed when he puts his arm around them“Spinni, elline, my friends,” he said sweetly, though the sweetness was clearly faked. “You know I consider you my most trustworthy servants? In all the time you have served me, you have obeyed me without question and have shown great loyalty to me!”The two furrowed their eyebrows “you know very well that we don’t do these things out of loyalty to you”“Nevertheless, you’ve carried out every task i’ve given you swiftly and effectively. You’ve served well as my eyes and ears, spotting every single rebel and confounding every plot against me. So let me ask you…”He turned to face them, laying his hands on their shoulders“How good are you at making friends?”spinni blinked in confusion “Huh? Come again?”He returned to his previous position and whispered lowly. “Here’s what i want you to do. I want you two along with dark metaknight to join the nutcracker’s little party, gain their trust, especially adeleine’, and when the time is right, take the brooch from her”“B-but...”“Ah, ah, ah!” daroach wagged his finger “don’t make me take back what I said about your loyalty”“It’s not that. we’ll do it, of course, but… how are we supposed to take the brooch from her? You said that yourself she’s the only one who can remove it, and if I even try to take it...well, you never really made it clear, but i know it’s bad”“Find some way to persuade her to take it off. Ask to see it or wear it. Use your imagination“And if she doesn’t trust us enough?”daroach pulled out a whistle. “Use this to call the squeakers. Only they can hear it, so don’t worry about alerting those people. Our pretty friend will be easier to capture when she’s asleep or off-guard. If persuasion fails, the squeakers will take care of things. Think you can handle it?”spinni gulped as he stared at the whistle “What will become of the girl once you have the brooch?”He shrugged “oh you know, enslave her, find some use for her? The nutcracker will be toast, of course. That resistance leader would be an excellent addition to the mines. I might even appoint her to my guard, If I can sway her right. As for the fairy and the little pink ball...well, they can be cleaning maids”He frowned when he noticed elline was stunned in silence. She said nothing, only stared at the whistle with uneasiness. daroach could see he was having seconds thoughts, so he played a new card“Elline, Why not make this plan beneficial for the both of us?” he grinned “If you do this for me, I will give you the one thing you’ve always desired from me”Elline looked at him with wide eyes. “You mean…?”Daroach nodded “once I’ve destroyed all the things standing in my way of ultimate power, I’ll have no more need for your services”“And…?”“You’ll have your little family reunion at last”elline gazed back at the whistle dangling in front of her. After much thought, she swiped it from daroach’s hand.
The Star Warrior Nutcracker Ch. 4metaknight glanced around. “Strange. The cappies has lived in this area for generations. My guess is that daroach either captured them or ran to avoid capture”adeleine looked at him “Why would he want to capture them?”“Before I was banished, daroach bragged about making everybody his slave, not because he needed any, but for his own amusement. He even showed me two colorful sisters in chains, claiming them as his own personal fortunetellers”“Fortunetellers?”“ He said they can conjure the spirit of the dreams and see the future. He forced her to tell him how to work on his own magic. No doubt that’s how he found you”He shook his head sadly “If that’s what he’s doing to her, who knows what he’s making other folks so?” he looked at adeleine and then up at the a large treeadeleine went up and grabbed a red cheeked apple that had captured her interest. She was on the tip of her toes as she grasped it. When she tried to pluck it off the branch however, it wouldn’t budge, as if something was holding back. Determined to have the apple, Adeleine pulled at it with all her might. She shrieked when a head popped out. It was the head of a boy. In the brief moment she saw the boy, adeleine could see a strand of blonde and green hair dangling.For it was a brief moment, as the start made her fall back to the ground. The others rushed to catch her when they were suddenly brought up and enclosed in a net from the ground, which ensnared Adeleine as she fell. The net hoists them upwards from the trees.Around them, cappy folks of all ages, including children. Before they knew it, they were surrounded by weapons of all kinds: Knives, swords, spears, rifles, clubs, pitchforks, even frying pans! The last one was held by an elderly cappy in a brown hat“Alright, intruders!” he hollered “State your name and business!”“Who are you?” metaknight demanded“We’re the resistance!” a cappy declared“Citizens of the land of dreams united against the squeak king!” Exclaimed the blonde haired boy that frightened adeleine earlier“You’ve got us all wrong!” the nutcracker insisted “We’re on your side! Who’s your leader?”“That would be me”Everyone turned to the voice. Leaning against the trunk of a tree was a blonde girl with a long braid in pink and green and orange feet. She sashayed over to the prisoners“What have we bagged ourselves here?”“A couple of no-good trespassers!” the old man howledThe others shouted in response. adeleine shrieked as the blonde boy poked her with a pitchfork“And thieves too!” the boy accused “This one here was tryin’ to steal our whispy apples!”“I didn’t know!” adeleine insisted “The apples look so delicious and…”“Looks like they’re kidnappers too!” a cappy said, pointing her club at kirby“What?” the ribbon said “No, they didn’t kidnap us! She’s with us!”“I reckon they’re spies too!” The elderly man claimedI think you’re right, mayor!” another cappy, nodded, poking his spear at ribbon. “daroach will get anyone to do his dirty work! Even kids!“Hmm,” the ringleader said, rubbing her chin. “two girls and a young man traveling on this road in these times is mighty suspicious… what do you suppose we do with them?“Let’s just shoot ‘em!” one shouted excitedly“Nah, too messy, Bookem. We might get blood on the trees”“We could drown ‘em in the river!" Another cappy offered“Not a bad idea, samo, but their bodies could float upstream. We can’t risk daroach’s squeakers finding clues as to where we are”“Hey, Tiff” one cappy exclaimed, pointing his rifle at adeleine “This one’s a not a cappy!”“Gus!” the leader, Tiff, cried. “What have I told you about flirting with the prisoners?”“No! I mean she’s human!”“And this one’s made of wood!” a cappy declared, pointing at metaknight. “I think he’s a toy soldier of some kind!”“A Toy, huh? tiff, crossing her arms. “Well, I must say that’s a new one. Haven’t seen these people around these parts for a while. Didn’t daroach would use them as spies”“We’re not spies!” the nutcracker repeatedHe looked among the denizens and gasped when he saw a familiar face“Chef bookem? Is that you? It’s me, metaknight! We worked in the palace!”The bearded cappy tilted his head at him. Some of the resistance members lowered their weapons“Did he say metaknight?” the blonde boy questioned“Spies will say anything these days! The one we caught last week said he was didn’t say a word. The fact that he escaped only proved he was a spy”He approached the nutcracker “metaknight was destroyed by daroach. he may be evil, but he’s no idiot. He would’ve made sure there was nothing left of his adversary!”I don’t know, tiff,” samo said skeptically “there were rumors that the captain wasn’t destroyed, but banished”“I heard he was turned into wood!” the cappy declared“I heard he was turned into a doll of some sort!” the boy exclaimed“Yes, I was!” metaknight said frantically. “And i was banished too! I came back to destroy the squeak king!”“Then what are they here for?” tiff asked, tilting her head towards the ladies“They’re my, err, companions. They’re here to help too! I know you’re fighting for the same cause, so if you’ll cut us down and join us, we can defeat the squeak king and end his reign of terror!”There was murmur among the resistance. Tiff saw the uncertainty in her followers and sighed“The way I see it, there’s only one way to clear up this whole mess” she turned to one of the old cappy in brown “Mayor? You knew metaknight better than any of us. Is this him?”The mayor looked up at the nutcracker and brought his face closer to get a better view of him. After a minute of scrutinizing, he smiled and replied:“Yes, that’s the captain of the guards!”The resistance gasped and dropped their weapons with a unified bow. Tiff wore an astonished expression on her face. She knew her partner was rarely ever mistaken and his decree made heat rush to her cheeks in embarrassment.“Oh, well, uh…” she couched “right then. Boys, cut ‘em loose”Two cappies nodded and cut the rope with a knife. The four companions shrieked as they dropped to the ground. Tiff held out his hand to help the nutcracker up.“Apologies cap’n,” she said softly. “We didn’t mean to intimidate you, but you never know who ya can trust these days”“perfectly understandable. I wouldn’t done the same” metaknight“I’m just sorry we hadn’t recognized ya earlier”“Too bad you realized it too late!” a voice exclaimedEveryone turned and gasped, seeing an army of spinni had appeared out of nowhere. Tiff smiled smugly at the source of the voice”“Doc,” she smirked “it’s been a while, bud”“tiff,” Doc growled, “Don’t think I've forgotten what you did to my saucer!”“Oh yeah, that?” that was a gift. How do you like another one for new year’s?”That was enough to tick the bluish-white mouse off. “That does it!”“Army of squeakers! Attack!”The squeakers army lunged forward while the resistance members picked up their weapons. Tiff turned to the nutcracker“We’ll hold them off as long as we can. You and your friends get outta here!”“But…” metaknight started to say“Don’t worry about us. This isn’t our first battle. You have one of your own to get to!”He looked between her and his companions and nodded “We’ll never forget this!”“Good luck with ol’ daroach!” tiff called the four travelers. He faced forward. “Cappies, for freedom!”The resistance members cheered as they charged and met the squeakers with fire in their blood. tiff’s first move was kicking storo in the gut, the blonde boy wacked doc’s saucer with his pitchfork and the mayor whacking squeakers with his cane. Meanwhile, the nutcracker and his companions crept away, hoping the fracas would be enough to distract thesqueakers, for no doubt they were after adeleine againHowever, they did not go unnoticed. Once storo had recovered from tiff’s blow, his jaw dropped when he saw the four escaping“The girl!” he exclaimed “They’re getting away with the girl! Come on, squeakers!He gestured for doc to follow him. After one thrown the mayor over his head and the other kicked the blonde boy aside, they chased after the escapes. Adeleine, ribbon, and kirby squealed when the squeakers leaped out and surrounded them“storo” doc ordered “Grabbed the girl! But remember what the master said!”storo nodded and chuckled as he advanced on adeleine. metaknight held his hand protectively in front of her and drew his sword“Not a chance, storo!”“Ignore him!” doc exclaimed, waving him off. “I’ll take care of him! tears the fairy and pink ball apart!”“On my signal,” metaknight whispered to the othersHe waited for the squeakers to lunge forward with their bombs before shouting:“Duck!”“They crouched down, making the squeakers collide into each other. The four companions scrambled off in different directions before they fall on them. The squeakers groaned as they attempted to rise. When doc saw that their target had fled, slapped his compatriots“Get them, you fools!”Meanwhile, the battle between the freedom fighters and the squeakers was still going on. Tiff found himself pressed up against the tree with five sqeakers closing in on her. This, however, did not wipe the smug expression off of her faceYou’re all are messin’ with the wrong girl” said tiff, drawing two pistols from her belt“Y’all hungry for lead?”She fired the pistol and shot and the squeakers. Those squeakers had enough weak spots for her to work with. she fired around the circle with both pistols and moved onto another group. He kept firing until he pulled both triggers and only clicks could be heardThe squeakers closed in on her, but tiff was unfazed by this setback“Fine,” she said, sliding her guns back in the holsters “We’ll just do this the old fashioned way then”Her grin widened as she pulled out a whip “Say hello to Ol’ betsy, fellas!”On the other side of the forest, ribbon was running from storo, she yelped when he grabbed her arm and brought her up to his face“Got you now, fairy!”His laughter was short-lived when a apple hits him in the back of the head, rendering him unconscious. He fell and loosened his on ribbon. the fairy looked up and saw the blonde and green boy in a tree with a slingshot“We kids gotta stick together!” he declared, salutingribbon saluted back before running offMeanwhile, Adeleine was being pursued by Doc. She screamed when two more squeakers appeared in her path“Nowhere to run, pretty girl!”She spun around to face doc and quivered in fear“The master is so anxious to see you again!” he cackled “take her away!”The two squeakers each snatched one of her arms. adeleine’s necklace then started pulsing and a wave of rainbow energy was released. The squeakers were knocked backwards into the snowadeleine was once again stunned at her necklace’s magic, but didn’t think much of it as she was more focused on escaping. She headed towards the forest, hoping she would be safe when another squeaker obstructed her path. it was about to grab her, the person responsible for it cracked her whip again, slashing it across the squeaker.“Get to the forest,” tiff whispered to adeleine “I’ll make sure they don’t follow you!”The girl nodded and ran towards the pine trees. tiff turned to face an incoming pack of squeakers and stretched his whip readily“Bring it on, rodents!”It looked like the resistance was going to win the battle, but they were greatly outnumbered by the squeakers. Doc shook the tree the green and blonde boy was in hard enough to bring him down. tiff spun around at the sound of his little brother’s scream. The squeakers took advantage of his distraction and pounced. tiff managed to whip a few of them off with her strength, but she was overpoweredSuddenly, a feminine voice cried out, “away with you rats!”The squeakers screamed as they were beaten by ribbon. They scrambled off tiff, who looked up in amazement at her savior. Ribbon winked as she continued beating the squeakers“Never mess with a girl!”tiff nodded in approval and cracked his whip. “You go join your friends in the woods. I’ve got them”ribbon called for kirby and the pink duo ran into the bushes. tiff was about to be subdued again when metaknight appeared at his side and fought off half the pack with his sword“There’s too many of them!” he declared “Your troops will have to retreat!”“No!” Tiff insisted, wrapping his whip around a squeaker’s body “We can take ‘em! you Just go and get outta here!”“You’re outnumbered! You’ll never defeat them on your own!”Once their attackers were down, tiff grabbed metaknight’s hand and hastened him to the forest. She turned back when she heard screams and her jaw dropped. All her comrades had been captured! Some were struggling in the grips of the squeakers while others were already tied up. her little brother was kicking in storo’s strong grasp“Tuff!” Tiff cried, rushing to her brother’s aidmetaknight held her back “Don’t! We gotta get outta here!”“But they have my little brother! I can’t just stand here and do nothin’!”“You’ll have to! If you try and save him now, you’ll get captured too, and there’ll be no saving either of you!”tiff looked at him for a moment and then gave a solemn, but understanding nod“Now let’s go!” the nutcracker saidHe pulled the resistance leader into the bushes where adeleine, kirby and ribbon were already hiding. tiff peered over the bush and watch the squeakers bind his little brother with the others“Oh, tuff…” he sighed “I knew I shouldn’t’ve let him fight! I knew he would get hurt!”He trailed off metaknight put an assuring hand on his shoulder“The only way to save your brother and the rest of the rebels now is if we defeat the squeak king. Then everyone will be free”tiff nodded with a determined look in his eye “Count me in, then. Come on, we should move deeper into the woods before they find us”The five companions crouched down and slowly made their way through the trees“No use taking the rainbow road now,” metaknight whispered “daroach will be expecting us to be on it”“It was a stupid thing to do in the first place!” tiff snorted “But i can take you to the palace. I know this forest like the back off my hand! I can sneak us through so that daroach won’t see us coming when we reach the palace! Besides,” she said patting her belt, “you’ll need the defense”He lifted his head and listened for danger “Okay, I think it’s safe to walk now”The five stood up and brushed the snow off their clothes“Let’s see,” tiff said, glancing at their surroundings. “The dream palace is up north, which should be…” she paused and pointed in one direction “That way!”“How do you know?” ribbon asked“The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. North would be in between”The others watched in awe as they followed the resistance leader“I like her,” ribbon whispered to kirby“How did those squeakers get here so fast, anyway? adeleine inquired “I thought you said it was a day’s journey from here to the palace”“It is,” tiff explained “But in order for those squeakers to act quickly, daroach gave them the power to appear out into different parts of the land”“I didn’t see any of them teleport,” ribbon declared“They can only teleport far distances. daroach can’t give his servants too much power”Tiff paused and spun around “Sorry, I’m afraid I didn’t catch all your names”“I’m ribbon!” the little fairy piped. “And this is kirby!”“And I’m adeleine” the girl waved shyly“Well, I’m tiff,” the resistance leader greeted, shaking her hand, “In case you didn’t hear from the others. Now I know why the squeakers were after youl. I mean I know they weren’t after the captain here. I thought they were at first, but they, but they seemed a lot more interesting to this here girl. Mind tellin’ me what that was all about?”“It’s a long story,” metaknight saidTiff shrugged. “We’ve got a long journey ahead of us. You Might as well start talking.”
Realistic or Non-Fiction Novels 1st Chapters
Stand Up - The EpilogueTHE EPILOGUEIt was a sunny day and was spent by The Dreams at The Lantern Coast. Wenus and Miley had just finished building a sand castle, while Savim and the rest were swimming in the sea.„Mom, I have a question – how did you know you wanted to be a singer and a doctor?” the young girl asked.„Haven't I told the story already?” Wenus looked surprised.„Yes, you have, but still... Many people pick their jobs and leave them after just a short time... Or have endless amount of hobbies... I know we've already recorded one podcast about it, but I can't stop thinking today...”„Well... You feel something like a call to do something. Sometimes it happens after a longer amount of time.” the woman answered.„So why do some parents react as if their child was 'bout to waste his or her life?”„'Cause many of them want the best for their child or they've heard some fake rumors or they've been brought up not to see the other perspectives, which is sad. That's why you shall stay open and try different things in life to know, what brings you the biggest amount of joy and satisfaction.”„I think I've understood... But the other question is – what if me and my siblings want to do some job, but we never get to thrive?” Miley was courious.„There have already been many young people finishing e.g. college due to their high IQ and high knowledge levels. Just because you're gonna be young longer than the others, it doesn't mean you won't be allowed to e.g. save the world. Or to change it on a better place.”*Two weeks later The Dreams had an interview and one of the many questions was: „How to become an artist?”...„It's a really difficult question 'cause there's no proper answer – firstly of all, you shall have your own style, not to repeat the others 'cause if everyone keeps producing songs, which sound like exactly the same one, then people won't be keen on listening to it. Also when it comes to editting videos – have your own, unique style. No matter, if you're gonna sing or paint, put your whole heart on it 'cause that's when you'll become REAL! It may be difficult (and pricey) on the beginning, but the most important is to never give up. The first results may not be the best ones – it always takes time. Also things like tutorials or vocal coaches help improve a lot.” that was Savim's answer.„What, if there's a situation, when somebody's almost out of money, but he wants to continue being an artist?” the lady kept asking.„You can always take e.g. a part-time job to earn some money. It often costs so much patience before someone for example explores your videos or your vocal technique will improve enough to take part in some show. If you're for example a kid, feel free to take part in school competitions.” those were Calista's words.„But what, if all the „cool kids” keep laughing from you?”„There's something like a quote, answering the question: „What to do to be liked by everyone?” and the answer is: be like them, avoid being yourself, don't have your own opinion, don't show yourself anywhere, don't wear shirts with the logo of your favourite band, don't listen to the music you like, but your „friends” don't and just be like the quite mouse. There will always be people, who don't like you, but you just have to keep going through that way and just remember about the ones, who do support you.” Lorelai said.„One song says: „I don't have to try to hard, 'cause there is one kind of art and it's called BEING YOURSELF, don't wanna be someone else”.” Marcus added.„Ok, let's say that someone's able to cope with the pressure around, but what about the situation, when there's a person, who keeps feeling like he is not enough?” the journalist was growing even more courious.„You have to remember that you're always enough, no matter how many successes or mistakes you make. No matter, if you've got blonde or red hair. Or no matter, if you write 15 songs during just a week or the whole 2. No matter, if you win the upcoming contest or no. No matter, what they say about you. No matter, how tall you are or how much you weight. You have to remember that you're not e.g. the number of inches around your waist.” Anette answered. „We're all beautiful creatures.”Then The Dreams had a small performance, where they sang the upcoming songs: „Believe In You”, „I Am Enough”, „Beautiful Creatures”, „I Love Me” and „Materpiece”.*The upcoming evening the band gathered to celebrate their next awesome interview and performance. They were eating different pizzas, drinking juices and dancing.Meanwhile Wenus and Sasske were sitting on the top of stairs, resting, looking at the others and smilling. They were holding hands and both thinking: „What an amazing family!”...THE END
Stand Up - Chapter VCHAPTER V„Hakuzar used to be a beautiful place, full of light. We're all elves, living in here.” the woman started.„Wait... So all elves...?” Wenus looked confused.„...come from this dimension. 'Cause years ago we loved to explore new places.”„What happened that you've lost all hope then?” Viviana wondered.„THEM... With the biggest orc as their leader... I'm sorry, I can't even spell his name... Once they had explored a portal... And came in... Big war began... Our king and queen passed away... Their leader took over... But it's not about the mean ruler... It's about what he has done to us... He was a red one, what means he can use magic... And – to destroy us completely – he made the world a dark place... Our ancestors passed away, leaving us – the cursed generation – in this state... But you know, what? I don't care! I don't even wanna fight, I just wanna die!” the elvish woman explained.„Nooo! You have to fight for Hakuzar!” Lorelai got touched by the story.„Why? What's the sense?”„Don't you wanna lead a normal, calm, happy life?” Marcus couldn't believe his ears!...„If life ends with death and is full of so much pain, what's the sense of continuing it?” Hearing that, Wenus had to step away 'cause she had tears in her eyes... It wasn't about just fighting against the ruler or singing a happy song – those elves didn't even wanna any change„Ok, I'm back...” the band leader said. „Listen, you have to keep fighting! And we're gonna free you from that mean ruler!” the woman said confidently. „I have a question, but... Are there any therapists among your elvish tribe?”„Haha, great joke!” the elf chuckled! „The last one existing decided hang himself up last week! And about the ruler – do, whatever you wanna do! No one cares, ok?”*The Dreams gathered around fire in a big shock...„They have to keep fighting!” Calista said. „If they don't, I'm gonna do it myself!”„But are we even allowed to? It's still THEIR dimension...” Galaxy wondered.„...what doesn't change the fact that even if we don't manage to change this current generation, we may at least save the future ones!” Alaina noticed.„I swear I'm gonna twist that ruler's neck!” Alanna was really mad!„Ok, enough, we have to find the castle and talk to him in the first order.” it was Wenus' decision.*-the next day-The Dreams came to the castle, but – to their surprise – there were almost no orcs! The existing ones explained that most of them died due to a big plague, inclouding the ruler. However Thalm was gone, his magic was still present in that world...„I gotta tell that personally I haven't expected that...” Sereina looked confused. „Have we got any plan B?”„Do you remember one of our adventures? Singing happy songs has made that world a better place!” Galia proposed.„It would've been WAY too easy, if that way worked here...” Timothy [her husband] answered. „We have to find some way to break the curse!”„Wait, I have an idea...” Azaria said, then she lift her hands up and tried to add some light... Soon Sarameya, Adam, Larissa, Kevin, Kayanna, Darrin, Harmony and Eleusine jointed her, and for a short moment it was working, but later Hakuzar got dark again.„Wait, maybe you're trying from the wrong side...” Lavenia noticed and then – along with Leanna, Sariandi, Erin, Soraya, Talon, Iris and William's help – she helped plants regrow and made Hakuzar all green (and full of flowers)!„Don't get me wrong, it looks really nice, but are plants gonna keep growing up with no sun?” Alease noticed. „Just look at the sky – it's dark!”„Ops, sorry, I forgot...” Lavenia said. „But it still looks better!”„Wait, I have an idea!” it was Azumi's voice, who – along with Sarianna, Cayden, Thyson and Haylin – sent a big ball of light to the sky!„Maybe it's gonna replace the sun for just a couple days...” Haylin said. „I truly wanna help these elves!”„I know my idea may sound silly, but what about bringing some therapists to this world?” Moonraya proposed.„I wouldn't have risked, honey...” Jay began. „If you tell them about this world and the unhappy elves, therapists may actually start thinking something's wrong with your own mind!”„Wait! If powers don't work, the problem may be deeper – what, if it's about their own attitude and we have to convince them they shouldn't give up?” Wenus wondered.„I'd say they live still in the past...” Rosalina noticed. „Maybe they haven't even noticed the present looks different than they think?”„At first I thought about giving them „the happy mixture”, but as I'm listening to you, honey, I think you're right.” Karim said.„I had been reading a book about depression in the past...” Olly started. „...and it said that such person had low serotonin and dopamin levels... Maybe they also need them?”„Yeah, you're right – let's come to the first better elf and say: „Hey! You've got just lower neurotransmitters levels! Everything's gonna be fine!”... I know, my dear wife, you've got such a compassionate heart and would love to help them, but don't forget that depression requires therapy, right?” Arnold mentioned.„In my opinion they need to change their way of thinking!” Snowmia broke in.„If it was that easy...” Axel whispered.„Hey, you know what? The longer I'm in this dimension, the more depressed I feel myself!” Arlina noticed.„We definitely have to quick 'cause I've been feeling mentally worse myself since we've come into the portal!” Kalaisa added.„I'd LOVE to tell them the reasons to live, but I feel like they're gonna ignore it 'cause „we're all gonna die anyway”...” Wenus said. There could be heard sadness in her voice.„I feel truly sorry for their kids 'cause they have to grow up in such a hopeless place!” Iris spoke loudly! Although she was a psychologist, she didn't have any superpower to change somebody's attitude to life (by force).„Ok, so we all agree on the fact that it's not gonna be any simple fairytale and the problem's way more serious, right?” Kalani asked.„Right. Maybe we shall try different ways that have already helped us in the difficult times?” Evan wondered.„I have a question – which power may be big enough to overcome even the most difficult things and give you a big motivation to stay alive?” Delilah thought loudly.„I got one song in my head...” Houdini answered, then sang just a small part of one song: „We found love in a hopeless place”... That made a big impression on everyone! „Even the fantasy or the science-fiction books and stories say that love is the biggest power in the whole universe! Maybe they feel rejected, unwanted, forgotten? Or maybe they feel weak without the king and the queen? Maybe they've completely lost faith in themselves? In my opinion they shall banish the remaining orcs and pick two new rulers! Hakuzar isn't gonna get bright, if elves don't change their attitude! I have to tell this challenge is gonna be WAY harder than the others 'cause this time we don't get to fight against the mean ruler – even us [themselves] get the next chance to fight against our own weaknesses!”
Stand Up - Chapter IIICHAPTER IIIFor a moment Iris wasn't realizing, what was going on, but then she noticed the woman, who seemed to be in a lot of pain. Both her and William grabbed the flamingo to put her on it. Meanwhile Wenus and Calmany got their powers ready to protect them...„Can you see any sharks?” Wenus asked.„I don't think so... Man, they usually don't attack humans, if they don't give them any good reason to do so...” Cal looked confused. She was the biggest nature lover and couldn't understand the situation...„Prepare some towels!” William screamed. „She's bleeding badly from her leg!”As they got the woman out of water, Iris looked for the first aid kit to get some bandages. She came back with both them and an antiseptic spray.„Was there anyone with you like for example husband or kids?” the woman asked. „No...” the brunette answered. „I've come for vacation with my friend, Erika – she's at the hotel right now. Uh, it aches so much!”Wenus called an ambulance and Calmany brought two lifeguards, who were busy with saving two kids from their irresponsible parents before.„It doesn't look for a jellyfish...” the first one noticed.„What's your name, madam? Have you seen any sharks?” the other one asked.„My name's Victoria Fischer. No, I don't think so... I was surfing and then that rock... Just appeared from nowhere... My surfing board's probably in pieces now...” then she looked at Iris and William. „Thank you for saving me! And also I'd like to thank everyone for taking care of me!”*In the evening Wenus, Iris, William and Calmany gathered together for grill. Alberto, who was Cal's husband, got invited as well. Emily and Katherine aka Calmany's sisters, and Thysen and Rodney, who were their husbands, agreed to take care of their kids. They were supposed to come after everything would get prepared.„I've bought some plastic plates and cutlery.” Iris said. „I don't get it – a rock? Haven't they noticed before?”„I haven't seen any warning...” William mentioned.„I just hope Victoria's gonna be OK...” Calmany said quietly.„They're irresponsible, if they let people surf in such a dangerous place!” Alberto was clearly mad! „How can a ROCK just appear in front of you!?”„You'd better look at the news...” Wenus said, holding a newspaper. „A similar accident took place just a week ago – only water and waves, and suddenly a rock appearing out of nowhere!”„Is this island cursed or what?” Calmany wondered.„I don't know, but it looks like some dark magic has been brought here... Someone doesn't like surfers...” the band leader answered, bringing glasses. „Once Kalahari said that if somebody has powers and dies, the place may get cursed after his death. But not only – maybe some tourists were just not satisfied with the island?”„In my opinion we shall definitely check that place again and look for any signs of dark magic!” Alberto decided.*Later, while everyone was still eating, Wenus stood on the cliff and looked at the beautiful sunset – the sky and the sun were in tones of red, purple, orange and even pink! Waves got a little stronger due to the wind and – looking at the distance – there seemed to be no rocks in the water...„Such a weird situation!” Wenus thought.*-the next day-While Iris and William were visitting Victoria, Wenus, Calmany and Alberto brought Alanna with them, who was known as such a talented elemental magic lecturer.„Have you asked the locals about deaths?” Alanna wondered.„You really think somebody would make an advertisement for his source of money: „Hey, come here – you're gonna die faster than you think!” and yet that coffin dance men picture !?” Wenus asked.„Oh, right...” then Alanna took the surfing board. „You'd better stay here...” the woman said, leaving towards the bigger waves. As she reached them, Alanna did a handmovement to check, if there was anything dangerous underwater, such as sharks – nothing found... And then Wenus' friends would enjoy surfing for the next two hours!... Suddenly, she felt something... Weird... „What the...!?” and then a big rock appeared right in front of her – seeing that, Alanna split it into two big parts, so she could swim between them. „Woah! That was close!” and then the woman came back to them.Wenus, Calmany and Alberto quickly jointed.„Looks like a normal rock... It doesn't look like anything from a different dimension...” Wenus said, collecting a bigger piece of it.Alanna placed her hand on the rock and closed her eyes – she had the ability to check the rock's age by just touching it, but... That one stayed „silent”!„Weird... In my opinion Lynette should see it. She's a geologist.”*-at home-„It looks like a variety of chalcedony... Tough, sharp edges, black colour... It has to be onyx!” Lynette said.„Are you going to tell me that an onyx rock just decided to come out of the ground on a tropical island!?” Alanna couldn't believe her ears... „Great joke!”„Onyx rocks are rare. I'm confused either.” Lyn answered, clearing a hair stripe.„Ok, so as we know, what kind of rock is it, then we shall look for the answer, where did it came from.” Wenus finally spoke. „Tomorrow I'm gonna visit the local library to get more answers 'cause I really don't like it!”„Oh, hello Iris and William – how is Victoria?” Calmany asked, seeing her friends.„She's got about seven stitches on her leg, but at least bones are not broken.” Iris answered. „Do you know anything concrete?” it was William's question.„Guess, what has „attacked” her?” Alberto asked.„What?” Iris' husband's pupils got wide as he really wanted to know the answer.„An onyx rock!”„Are you kidding me!?”„Someone has „spawned” it right in front of Alanna!”„Why? Like... Why would someone be so mean?”„I'm sorry, I've just heard your conversation...” Eleusine said, coming in to the big room. „...and it may also be a call from a different dimension... No one said onyx exists only in ours, right?”...
Stand Up - Chapter IICHAPTER IIWenus, being the band leader, changed her way of working from 12 (sometimes even 24 hours) to only 8 hours – it was a well-paid job, so the woman coud allow herself to do so. As she had three different specializations and was hired in three different units, she would spend only several hours there (inclouding the out-patient clinics and the emergency consultations) – the most important was the Intensive Care 'cause Wenus was the boss. The last day before the vacation the woman made sure everything was fine and came back home.„Good evening!” Anette welcomed her friend. „How was the day?”„Very tiring, but satisfying as well. I've sent Sasske a message to pack my things, however there are some (e.g. the toothbrush), which will have to wait 'till tomorrow morning.” the woman answered. „Last years we've visitted the mountains, so I just thought this time we'll visit some island and – instead of sea – just enjoy the whole ocean! And I just hope hurricanes won't come!”„Hurricanes? I'd be more afraid of sharks, however – call me a weirdo, if you want to - I really like watching lightnings and I bet it's gonna be such an interesting view, especially as our summer houses are gonna be on the cliff!” said Melody, coming in to the room.„Surfing's gonna be a lot of fun!” Cassidy (Melody's twin-sister) jointed them. „Also kids have been doing the big countdown 'till tomorrow – they'll finally get the occassion to fly again! We have to wake up early, so we're not late for our plane!”„It never fails to surprise me – I remember times, when we wouldn't have the ability to fly, but thanks to the thuzal professors, it's finally available!” Anette said. „When I was younger, I couldn't watch TV, play computer games or listen to the music on my phone, not to mention that I had to study from books for my exams!”„Oh, I remember when I had failed my pharmacology exam – it was really hard to reach to the professor to get the information about the repeat exam, but it's not the end of the story – on the day of it me and three other students came very stressed, but the professor was absent – it turned out he got sick, what meant an another term!” Wenus shared her story.„That must have sucked!” Anette said. „Man, I can't even imagine a situation like this...”*-the next day-The Dreams' flight did last 3 hours and finally let them reach The Starlight Island, which got it's name as there could be well-seen the starry sky from it. It was HUGE and – luckily – there was no active vulcano!The Starlight Island got discovered by an ithan travellers, Crystal and her husband, Christian Williams. It used to be a wild, unfriendly place with many wild animals, such as monkeys, snakes, big spiders and the other ones. Trees would grow up big and there was an endless number of plants! Flowers would cover up many bushes and make the air full of many beautiful smells, which attracted instects. Later – as people had decided to make that place a holiday paradise or just to move in there – the southern part of the island contained summer houses, the village, stores and the nothern part became The Sanctuary of The Starlight Island. That's where Crystal and Christin got their job, and also some day they became parents, what gave their kids the ability to grow up in such a wonderful, but – at the same time a dangerous – place.The first thing Wenus noticed after she had left the airport was a store with souvenirs. The woman decided to buy a fridge magnet and then it was time to look for some grocery store to get some food. To her surprise there were many different fruits in there – not only the common ones like bananas, but also the wild ones, such as papayas. She decided to get some. The Dreams reached the summer houses right before the heavy rain fell down – the weather would change there very dynamically. Anette read a guidebook – they did write something about the weather, but most space got filled up by attractions – some of the most common ones were a walk to the sanctuary, the beach, waterslides, gorgeous waterfalls, the museum and also the monument, which was commemorating Crystal and Christian.Meanwhile Melody and Cassidy took a selfie, and published it in social media. They were planning to take an endless amount of pictures! At the same time Savim was packing out, feeling kinda disappointed 'cause she planned to go for a walk along with her twin-brother, Kargoth. Siblings wanted to take some pets with them, so they would feel safer. Christine and Sabrine prepared a tasty meal for their kids. Nemesis was exhausted and went straight to sleep, while Enigma would finish reading a book. Iris was publishing a report on Facebook and Anette finally got to watch the lightnings as the powerful storm came!Everything outside looked similar to a horror movie – trees were bending down under the wind's strength, the sky got really dark, lightnings were long and had different shapes, waves got really big and rain changed into a wall of water! Although The Dreams had powers, inclouding the elemental ones, they were supposed to use them only to teach students or to defend themselves. At least that's what they had promissed Kalahari, Nathaus and Nerna. Powers were not supposed to replace them in the everday life!Wenus sat down and sighed... In the pictures of the other people there could be seen some beautiful sunsets, but this time she got to see lightnings instead of them. At least Anette looked happy – the woman would cheer like a little girl! Thunders got louder and there were almost no breaks between them and lightnings, what means storm was right over the island.*-the morning- Iris was the first one to come out of the summer house and – as the woman looked around – she could see an endless number of branches on the beach!„How the heck waterslides are standing still?” she wondered.„That's the power of nature!” those were the words of Zahira, who came out in a dark shirt with no sleeves, shorts and sandals.„Oh, hello dear!” Iris got surprised. „You also couldn't sleep, could you?”„Not really... The storm was powerful, but maybe at least today we'll get the chance to swim... My feet truly need it! I step on the ocean floor, so stones will do the massage for me! Also I've been planning to get some ambers and shells – I've heard you can find some big ones here! Oh, and the waterslides and the springboard look engaginly! Have you seen waves? They look perfect for surfing!”„Good morning, girls!” Alissa welcomed her friends. „Would you like to go to the fish restaurant? I've heard you can even get some great halibuts here!”„Morning! It's my favourite fish and I'd be glad to eat it!” Zahira answered.„William's taking me to one for a date, but in the evening, however I'd like to eat some fish sticks for lunch 'cause why the heck not!” Iris said happily.„Of course I meant lunch!” Alissa confirmed. „I've already eaten some papayas for breakfast and I have to say they're really good! And William may join us of course!”*-the afternoon-The Dreams enjoyed being finally on the beach – pets would chill themselves in the water, Wenus and Sasske went for a walk, Zahira, Alissa and Iris looked for ambers and shells, kids kept building sand castles and splashing themsleves in teh water, Savim was sunbathing and Anette decided to try surfing. Meanwhile Juarez used the waterslide, which was for adults and explored it was such a fast one!Soon everyone's eyes rested on... Dakar of course!... The man was standing on the slideboard and did a sommersault forwards!... Kody, Samson, Samuel, Danny, Sven, Karim and Sybil, who were his brothers, clapped! Malavi, Miley, Amber, Anaris, Eleni, Solami, Armilly and Juarez were also impressed! Later all of them played the beach volleyball together.Later Iris got invited by William to test the new water mattress – it was pink, had wings and the flamingo's head! Iris was laughing like crazy and William helped her with getting on it. Suddenly the couple heard a horrible scream, which sounded like a young woman... Jellyfish? Was that possible? Or maybe somebody got bitten by a mad crab?„HEEEEEELP MEEEEEE!” it could have been something worse by that... Was it a shark attack, although no attacks took place for the last three years?...
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The Androphagi Boys Appetite: a fairy taleA long time ago, in a land called Don, there was a young Androphagi boy, named Enaree. Now, the Androphagi were a Scythian tribe, known for their unusual eating habits. They could even eat a few zombies if they wanted to, or even a small whale. They would make sure their teeth are nice and sharp so it would be easier to eat through layers that are harder to chomp through, such as unpeeled bananas. Anyway, Enaree was the son of their chief, named Kissar, and he just didn't know when to stop eating. It felt as though he was always hungry. One day, Chief Kissar fed Enaree some lunch. He ate a steak, but he was still hungry. He ate a fish, but he was still hungry. He ate a whole cantaloupe, but he was still hungry. He even ate a dead hand, but he was still hungry after all of that. Unfortunately today, they ran out of food. “I’m sorry, but you ate the last of our food. There’s none left in the storage.” Kissar told him. “What?!” Enaree said. “Now, usually I would go get more food from our farmers, hunters, and morticians, but I think you're finally at that age where you can hunt and scavenge on your own for the first time if you're okay with that.” At eleven years old, an Androphagi would be trained to hunt and scavenge. So at thirteen years old, an Androphagi would finally be able to go on their first solo hunt and scavenge. The chief and his family didn't have to farm, for the subjects often did it for them. After all, an Androphagi must stand for dedication, whether in combat or hunting and scavenging, they must never give up. So when Chief Kissar told Enaree that might be his time, Enaree went from disappointed to excited, jumping with joy as he accepted the offer. His father wished him luck before he left the chief’s hut. In his orange sleeveless tunic, dark leather pants, big brown boots, gold headband, and brown hairy cape, he moved forward. On the way out of village, he ran into a mortician, who wore dark pants, one brown sleeve, and a black hairy cape. “Good day, Enaree. Are you going somewhere?” “I’m going on my first hunt and scavenge on my own.” Enaree replied. He then began to walk away, but was only able to take two steps when the mortician said, “Hold it.” He then turned towards the mortician, now believing this was something important. “You’re going to need all the energy you can get. So take this dead hand as a snack for your trip. Just keep in mind, that many people may see Androphagi as… odd for preferring to eat our dead instead of burning them.” The mortician speechlessly watched as Enaree ate the hand in one bit. He continued to stare at him, before saying, “You were to save that for later.” “Sorry.” Enaree replied. Although, he was still hungry. The mortician readjusted his pants, then sighed. “Just be careful, and make sure you don’t eat anything you’re allergic to.” He said, before Enaree left. After he left the village, he ventured through the his home forest, searching for either something to hunt or something to scavenge. He had made his way into the outskirts of the village, deeper into the forest, when he voices and grunts in the distance. Curious, Enaree walk towards them, while hearing the following: “Push harder.” “I’m trying, but the boulder’s too heavy.” “It hurts. Can you hurry?” “How about tell you something interesting to get your mind off the pain, while I try to remove this boulder.” “Fine.” “Have you heard that the King of the Spartans, Nicholas, found out that the Amazons brought back their male population? He and his army invaded their island two years ago, and found out that the princess had and kept a son.” “… but that's… “ “The Athenians captured an Amazon warrior, and she claimed that he was a gift from the g... Who's there?” Enaree was just passing through some bushes when one of the voices asked who was there. After passing them, he saw two Athenian Greeks, one of whom was trapped by a boulder. “My name is Enaree, son of Chief Kissar of the Androphagi.” The freed Athenian was shocked. “An-Androphagi?! Y-you’re not going to eat us, are you?” Enaree was offended, as he signed while shaking his head. “No. I’d only eat you if you were dead, and a its forbidden to kill sentient creatures.” Enaree realized that they might not have known what sentient meant. “Sentient is when something in possession of human intelligence, speech, and will.” “Are you saying you only eat dead bodies as a form of burial!?” The freed Athenian shouted in disgust. “In your point of view, yes.” Enaree said in disgust. The Androphagi found it disrespectful of the dead to bury them, especially since they were helping feed the poor, weak, and starved, especially the orphans. However, it always had to be voluntary not forced. So they had two other options, being cremated into ash or being mummified and put in a tomb. They weren't even allowed to kill someone to eat them, as the victim was now ruined by the killer and they didn't deserve to be fed to even the orphans. As Enaree was lost in thought, he stared at the boulder. Soon after he was done, he asked, “Do you need help?” “Yes. Help me push this boulder off. It’s trapping him.” Enaree got behind the boulder, and he and the Athenian pushed, pushed and pushed, until the boulder was able to roll off, freeing the trapped Athenian. He checked in his bag and saw that his bread was un harmed, and he wasn’t badly hurt either. “Finally.” He said. He broke off a piece of the bread, and offered it to the Athenian that helped free him. “I must be off now.” Enaree said, about to continue his quest. “Wait.” The now freed Athenian said. He broke off another piece of the bread and gave it to Enaree. “You can have some of this.” “Are you sure?” Enaree asked, not wanting to be selfish. “Yes. I think you can use a snack after all of that work.” Enaree took the bread, and ate it, although he was still hungry. Soon moved on. He continued to venture through the forest, searching for either something to hunt or something to scavenge. Little did he know that a young Androphagi sorceress, named Azar, was hiding, and had cast a spell on Enaree giving him a huge appetite. She was obsessed with performing dark magic and transformations. So much so, that she was banished from the tribe for turning people into pears and then eating them, but she swore revenge, taking it out of the chief’s son. After quietly placing the curse on him without him noticing it or her, she waited for him to get far enough, then she followed him from a distance. Enaree continued to venture through the forest, searching for either something to hunt or something to scavenge. He made his way up a hill, walking higher and higher until he made it to flat ground. There he saw a small swarm of locusts. Enaree liked the taste of locusts, so much so that he chased after them and are every last one of them. Some even tried to bite him, but he was too quick. Soon he ate the last one, although he was still hungry. So he moved, unaware that Azar was following him. She was even amazed that he was able to eat the whole swarm. Enaree continued to venture through the forest, searching for either something to hunt or something to scavenge. He found his way to a rocky path up a hill, and slowly made his up. When he got to the top of the hill, he saw down a small slope of the hill someone up in a tree, trying to avoid a demonic dog-like monster called a hellhound, which was trying to attack him despite being out of reach. Enaree looked closer and saw that someone looked like an Athenian Greek child. Enaree then looked down at the hellhound, and figured it was safe to eat, and Androphagi are supposed to be compassionate towards children. So, he got into his fighting position, and charge at them to fight and eat the hellhound, and save the child. He used an method of hand-to-hand combat, by grabbing, scratching, many hits, quick reflexes, quick feet, jumping, and quick thinking, to defeat the hellhound. Just when they were going to bite his neck, he quickly ate them, although he was still hungry.The child was shocked but grateful. Her feelings were mixed as Enaree came toward the tree she was in. “Are you alright, girl?” He asked. The child said nothing but nodded in response. “Are you stuck, or can you climb down on your own?” He asked. “Umm, I can climb down on my own.” She said. “Very well, you're safe now anyway.” he said before he walked off. Enaree continued to venture through the forest, searching for either something to hunt or something to scavenge. While he walked, he thought about the five Androphagi Commandments: 1. Help a child if their life is in danger; 2. Never kill what is a person to eat or for sport; 3. When you eat what is a person, it must not be against their will and already dead; 4. A warrior must fight for nurture, humility, and honor; 5. Nurture children with compassion. Enaree also remembered something father once told him. “In some cultures, the river dolphins is viewed as sacred, and when something is viewed as sacred, it’s important to show respect. So don’t eat them, not within the cultural territory at least. Besides, you don’t even know if you’re allergic to eating them.” He thought about this for some time, but then he stopped at a hill slope, and saw a view of more of the forest, along with the river Dnieper in the distance. It was an amazing view, a view so amazing that can be you would only be able to describe it if you were there. After he was done looking at the view, he finally went down the hill, unaware that Azar was still following him, waiting for the right time to make her move. She knew his father was allergic to eating river dolphins, so maybe he was too. Once he made it to the bottom of the hill, Enaree he came across a bear trying to get up an apple tree, where a bear was trying to get up and try to get a blue-skinned creature, with long green hair, a beard made of vines, and wearing a tunic and a waist sash. It was a leshy. Enaree wanted to help, but felt that he didn't he couldn't handle the bear. So he decided to create a lot of noise to scare them off. He jumped up and down, slammed a large stick onto another tree, and make any loud noise he could yell and scream. The bear may have found it more annoying than scary, but it got them to go away.The leshy was relieved that the bear was gone, and as he jumped down, he knocked down some apples. Enaree ignored the apples at first, to look at the leshy as he walked off, but stopped to look back at him with relief and satisfaction, Enaree understood he was thankful for his help without saying. After the leshy turned back and left, Enaree picked up and ate all the apples that fell, although he was still hungry, but not for apples. He took a deep breath and decided to walk over to the river Dnieper. When he got to the river Dnieper, he decided to find a large stick, to use as a spear He planned to use one for spearfishing. So when found a stick, he went to find a stone to make a head for the spear. Soon he found one, then starts sharpening it with another rock. While doing doing this, he heard someone coming. He ignored it at first, but then he heard a voice. “What are you doing?” She asked. Enaree turned around and saw Azar. Enaree never met her, nor did he know of her history. As far as he knew, she was just a red-haired Androphagi, in her dark brown sleeveless tunic, a carob brown short ruana covering her shoulders and top torso, mahogany big boots, and a gold mail belt. “Making a spear.” He replied. “Didn't you bring one with you?” “No.” He replied. “I think you should have, but you are Enaree, son of the chief, am I right?” “Yes.” He replied. “I thought so. Has your father mentioned me, Azar?” “Not really.” He said. “Hmm. Did she at least tell you what you're allergic to?” “I don't know if I'm allergic to river dolphins, but I know that I'm allergic to raspberries.” She realized that this was going better than she thought, so far. He was not only answering the questions with the answer she was looking for, but he was also adding unnecessary details that she could use to her advantage. “So you've never eaten a river dolphin, I assume.” “No. Why?” “Well, I'm curious. Has your father ever forbidden you from eating a river Dolphin?” “Although he doesn't recommend it, I'm only forbidden to eat them within the cultures where they’re believed to be sacred.” Azar smiled, showing her sharp teeth, which looked normal to Enaree. “Well, in case you're wondering, this isn't a part of those “cultures” you speak of.” She said using quotations with her fingers. “I might want your help catching one. That's why I asked all of that. To see if that's fine with you.”Enaree accepted her offer to help. She then revealed that she was a sorceress, before levitating herself toward the river, she then used her power to create a large half-circle of fire so hot, and so oxygen-building, that it was even able to burn underwater. Enaree had only one word to say about what he saw based on his amazement, “Wow.” Some of the sea creatures swam toward the shore, to get away from the heat, one of which was a river dolphin. The river dolphin was so close to him that he was able to grab and eat half. He couldn't eat the other half because he wasn't hungry anymore. Azar then came back to the ground, landing next to him, then he gave the other half to her, and she ate it. “I’m thankful that you helped, but I think you've been away long enough from Don long enough.” “This isn't Don?!” “No, Enaree, Don is in a specific part of the forest. You know the way back, right?” “Yes.” He replied to her. “Good, because I still have some things I have to do, and I think you're father doesn't want to find you... too surprising, to say the least.” Enaree agreed, thinking she meant staying away for too long. So he began to leave, before stopping and asking her, “What did you say your name was?” “Azar.” She replied. He then began heading back to Don, unaware that he was getting bigger. When Enaree got back to the village, in the land of Don, he was bigger than he was before the journey back. Everyone was staring at him as he made his way back to the chief’s hut. However, when he got there, it looked as though the entry was too small. “Father. I'm back! Are you in there!?” He shouted. “Yes! Come in!” Chief Kissar shouted from inside. “What if I can't fit!?” “See if you can squeeze in!” The chief replied unaware of his son’s size. Enaree then tried to get through but his shoulders couldn't get through. He tried to enter from his side, but no, part of his body could get through. “Father, I can't get through the entry!” He said. The chief came and saw what he was talking about. He looked all swollen and big. “Oh dear. See if you can get through the window.” The chief said. Enaree walked to hut's window outside, and tried to enter through it. His shoulders were able to fit through, but his chest and back couldn't get through. He tried to enter from his side but nothing changed. “Father, I can't get through the window.” He told Chief Kissar, who was with him. “Did you eat a river dolphin?” He asked. “Yes.” The Sighed when he hear his son say this, but wanted to have a word with him in private instead of outside. “See if you can get through the skylight, and then I have to tell you about allergies, one which I should have told you about full.” The chief went inside, and Enaree climbed onto the roof of the hut, and tried to enter through its skylight. His shoulders fit through, his chest and back went through, but his lower torso got stuck. He couldn't even try to enter from his side because of this. “I think I'm stuck.” He told his father, who was there. His father jumped up and tried to pull him down, but it was no use. Enaree was stuck tight. Meanwhile, the mortician had just finished receiving a spoken message from a messenger from the Amazon Scythian tribe. So, he ran to the chief’s hut to tell him what he heard, then by chance, he saw him exiting the hut. The chief was about to climb onto the roof, when the mortician stopped him. “Chief, I just received word that the Amazons’ neighboring tribe was presumably wiped out, but the same year their then princess adopt- Oh, what in the world?! Is that Enaree in the skylight!?” The mortician was shocked to see a big swollen Enaree trapped on the roof, especially since he told him not to eat anything he was allergic to. The chief refocused his attention on his son, and climbed up to the roof to pull him up, but he wouldn't get unstuck, then he tried to push him down, but he still wouldn't get unstuck. “DID HE EAT ANYTHING HE WAS ALLERGIC TO!?” The mortician yelled at Kissar, thinking he had to yell for him to hear. “Did you eat ate river dolphin!?” Chief Kissar shouted at Enaree, after taping his leg. The tap made him understand he was talking to him. “Yes, but not in any of the cultures where they’re sacred.” Enaree replied. “What was that!? I can't hear you!” The chief shouted. “I said I did but not in any cultures where they’re sacred!” Enaree said louder. The chief turned to the mortician. “APPARENTLY, HE’S ALLERGIC TO RIVER DOLPHINS, LIKE ME JUST as I feared.” He realized he should have warned Enaree that there was a chance that he may have gotten his allergy to eating river dolphins from him, just like he got his raspberry allergy from him. “I told you you should have told about the allergy possibility and that the sacred in some cultures thing wasn’t enough.” The mortician said. “What made you want to eat a river dolphin!?” Chief Kissar shouted at Enaree. Enaree loudly told him about how he helped the sorceress Azar, as well as everyone else, out of kindness while hunting and scavenging. The chief was shocked upon hearing the part about Azar and her getting him to eat half of river dolphin. The chief ordered the mortician to find the best healer in the village quick. The mortician ran as fast as he could to another hut, where he met a young healer with the power to get rid of food allergies by restoring what they ate into the meal’s uneaten and living form. The black haired, dark-brown tunic and pants and gold amulet wearing, sister of Azar. Zareen was her name. “Can I help you?” She asked the mortician when she saw him. The mortician took a deep breath. “Enaree, Chief Kissar’s son, he’s having an allergic reaction.” “To an animal he ate?” Zareen asked. “We believe it’s a river dolphin.” The mortician replied. “Say no more. Lead the way.” She said calmly. The mortician ran back, while she only sped walked. “Try walking fast. You’ll only wear yourself out.” she said. He slowed down, then turned his head towards Zareen. “How can you be this calm? We’re in a hurry.” “I know. This isn't my emergency.” She replied, as they continued to speed walk. When they got back into the chief’s hut, the mortician pointed at Enaree, and Zareen stayed calm as she looked at him, even though he looked big and swollen. “Let me guess. My sister Azar wanted to get revenge on the chief for banishing her, and you have your father's allergy. So, she tricked you.” “Yes. What do you she was banished?” Enaree asked in confusion but worriedness. Zareen explained everything about Azar, from why she was banished to her manipulative nature. She even explained that she had a habit of eating stuff she shouldn't and secretly refusing to eat stuff that she should, which slowly lead to her seeing if there was a way of doing it in public, only for her to get caught turning people into pears before eating them. Enaree was shocked upon hearing this. “She killed just to eat them, and she ate them alive?!” “Indeed she did.” Zareen replied. After saying this, she began performing a ritual, taking a piece of Enaree’s hair, a drop of his spit, and a drop of elixir, then mixing it up on the floor. When she was done, she said a chant. “Inner allergy within the grasp, I pray the animal that has the clasp, to be brought back as whole and alert, and leave this body safe and unhurt. Return this soul to what it once was, and rid the allergy from its cause.” While she said this, a bluish-white light appeared, the ground began to shake, and the room became dark as the light continued to glow. It glowed brighter and brighter until a huge shine of bright light lit the whole hut and for five seconds it was too bright to see.When the light faded, everyone could see again, a river dolphin had appeared, and Enaree was laying on his back in slight pain because he fell on it during the shine. “All done, and you're lucky the ground’s soft.” Zareen told him, as she helps him up. Chief Kissar patted his son on the back. “Are you glad it's over?” He said. “Yes. Yes, I am.” Enaree said after taking a deep breath. The mortician picked up the river dolphin. “What should we do with this?” He asked. “Take them back to where Enaree found it. I don't want to risk another reaction.” The chief said. He told Enaree to lead the way to where he found the river dolphin, since they had to return before they dry up, and he ordered Zareen to go with the mortician and Enaree in case they run into Azar. Soon, as quick as they could, they went on their way. However, they were right to bring Zareen along, as little did they know, Azar had been watching from a tree far from the village. She had been using a spell to allow her eyes to see what had happened and lip read many things. So, knowing that they’ll be leaving Don soon, she turned off the spell, and climbed down the tree to leave. Because, she knew exactly where they were going, and she wanted to put a curse on Enaree when the group least expects it. After a while, they began to approach the river Dnieper, but Azar was waiting for him and hiding from the group. As they got closer to the river, she decided that it was time to use the curse she chose. She summoned the curse in the form of a green ball of light, then at the last second before she fired it at him, Zareen noticed her and quality used a counterspell for the curse to hit her instead. The curse was sent back at Azar, and hit her, turning her into a scythian-dragon hybrid, neither an Androphagi nor a winged-dragon but somewhere in between, but was more reptile overall. She could barely feel anything, not even the ground on her feet. Meat was the only thing she could be able to eat. Her sense of smell was too much for her to handle. Having a tail felt strange to her. Her clothes no longer and were now ripped off. Her head felt heavier, and worst of all, she felt cold no matter how hot it was. “Do you see what you've become?” Zareen asked. Azar could only look in horror Zareen continued. “This is you, inside and out. I bet you can't even handle yourself now, and you know Enaree couldn't handle the curse you now put on yourself.” Azar began to walk away, overwhelmed by her new body and all of its changes. “You've ruined me.” She said weakly. Zareen told the mortician and Enaree to let her go, because her overwhelming curse was enough pain for her as she walked further and further until they could no longer see her.After she left, Zareen, Enaree, and the mortician continued to come closer to the river. They came closer and closer until they stepped into the water, then they released the river dolphin into the river Dnieper. Enaree gazed upon the river, thinking to himself that he would now be careful with what he ate and who he helped. Because some people might be using him, and Azar was without a doubt using him. The mortician put his hand on his shoulder, and nodded knowingly. “Don't blame yourself. You couldn't have known. Some people just don't think about admitting it because they don't think it's important. Now that I think about it, how often do we catch a river dolphin anyway?” Enaree opened his mouth to say something, but paused, before finally saying, “Maybe you're right. We were both under a lot of stress at the time. What about Azar?” The mortician sighed. “Your father should have warned you about her, especially given her history.” He replied. Before they left, they all saw that the sun was about to set, as the river dolphin jump out of the water, then splashed back in, before using their tale splash once more....
The Amazon Prince: a fairy taleOnce there was a newborn baby, abandoned by his Spartan parents. Left out in the winter snow, the baby seemed doomed to the freezing weather. The Spartans rivals were the Amazons, and the Princess of the Amazons was passing by, when she saw the baby. She took one long look at the baby, then looked at Sparta from the distance. She looked back at the baby, and despite realizing he was a Spartan, took pity on him. She picked him up, and looked at him, face to face. The baby was delicate, weak, but beautiful. Knowing how helpless he was, the princess decided to call off the attack she was leading, and take him with her to her Island home, Themiscyra. She knew that many out-of-island males, (referring to the people who were not Gargareans nor any other Scythian tribe males born there,) traditional shouldn't be welcomed to their all-women island, but she also knew that it wasn't good to leave him there to die. So she took him, hoping that there could be an exception, and maybe get him to live there if he was lucky. When she got to the island, she present the baby to her mother, Queen Hippolyte II. “Mother, I have found this baby in the snow, and he looked so cute but so weak, that I could not bear to let him freeze near the edges of Sparta.” The queen got up from her throne and sighed. “Katiari, you cannot bring an out-of-island male here, especially if they could be a Spartan.” The princess brought him closer to the queen. “Just look at him, mother. Does he look dangerous to you?” The queen tried to explain the risks, but the princess explained further, reminding her that Spartans reject the weak and delicate children, mainly the boys. He would have died if it were not for her. The queen took a look at the baby and thought it through. Seeing how helpless he was, she asked if the princess knew who the father was, and when she said no, the queen took pity on him, but not as much as the princess did. “Very well, but he's your problem now.” The queen said. The princess was filled with joy, upon hearing this, and hugged the baby close to her chest. So, seeing him as her son now, she named him Laurentius or Lars for short. As Lars grew, he remained a slim, but beautiful boy. By the time he was eight years old, his hair grew longer, and his mother would often brush it. He wore a toga chiton gown and belt, which his mother made. He would often play and hum with the birds of the island. He even enjoyed cooking, flowers, singing, and learning about cultures including Amazonian. He knew he was a boy, and he was fine with that. Soon the entire island knew his name, and would refer to him as a prince. By the time an Amazon daughter would turn eight years old, she would begin training in combat and schooling. Among them was a girl named Parthena, who happened to know Lars. Parthena was the daughter of one of the soldiers who was with the princess when she found him. She wished to one day become a great warrior, possibly inspired by her mother, and was even shown to be quite loyal, especially towards the prince. While she was training, one day, Lars approached her. He was expecting her to be available to play. “Sorry. Lars, I'm beginning combat training. Maybe some other time.” He understood and walked over to the blacksmith’s workshop.Inside was not only the blacksmith but her daughter too. Her name was Cora, she was the last child born in Themiscyra before the Gargareans, the man tribe that fathered Amazon daughters, went extinct. She had an interest in things out of Themiscyra, possibly because her mother would often remind her of her father. Lars soon went into the workshop and met up with Cora. Impatiently, her mother recognized him, as he and Parthena had been there before. “Prince Lars, came to if she's available? She hasn't turned eight years old yet. By the way, sorry about Parthena, and her time for her training.” Lars’s attention turned towards the blacksmith. “It’s alright.” He said. Cora showed him her spinning tops. “Were you thinking of playing these, or did you bring your dolls again?” Cora asked this because they were the most common things they did. Lars would sometimes bring dolls, which neither Cora nor Parthena had. “The tops.” He said. After going outside, Lars and Cora began to spin the tops, and watch if they would knock each other over. Once they fell over, Lars and Cora started again. A couple of times, one did knock the other over. Soon Parthena finished her training for the day and approached them. “I'm surprised you didn't bring your dolls this time.” She said to Lars. He looked at her, in her toga tunic. “You know I don't bring them everywhere I go.” He said. “I know, but you’ve been doing it a lot this month.” She said, as she got a top, and decided to play. As they spun the tops, they watched and waited to see who's top would get knocked down first. Cora’s top got knocked down first, and then Lars’s. Cora looked at Parthena. “So what do hope to do when you finish your training? Are you going to become a warrior and slay a werecat?” Parthena smiled when she heard Cora. “Maybe.” She replied. Lars readied his top, wanting to spin it again. “Are you ready, strong fingers?” Cora asked Parthena, also wanting to spin hers again. “Yes, I am.” Parthena replied as she readied her top. They spun the tops, they watched and waited to see who's top would get knocked down first. This time, Parthena’s top got knocked down first, and then Cora’s. “Wow, you’re getting better, Lars.” Parthena said, before she noticed what looked like a ship in the distance. Meanwhile, back at the palace, Queen Hippolyte and Princess Katiari were talking about Lars. About how he had never encountered another non-animal male, about how he doesn't know he's adopted, and about if there should be a male version of the Amazon right of passage for him. The queen was aware that because the Spartans killed off the Gargareans, Amazons were now endangered of becoming extinct. So the princess was suggesting whether to add a right of passage for fathers of future daughters, and Lars should be one of them. After a long argument, they were interrupted by the sound of a horn. The horn was a warning of an attack. They looked from the balcony, and saw that the Spartans were invading Themiscyra. Some civilians were running, some were fighting. Worrying about Lars, Princess Katiari began to run to find him but was stopped by her mother. “You stay here. I’ll send one of our guards to find him.” “No, I can't wait.” the princess said to the queen, before running towards the entrance. She ran down the stairs, and made it to the ground floor. Her mother stopped her again, this time grabbing her. “I will not risk losing you.” The queen said. The princess pleaded with her, but the queen insisted that the longer they argue, the more likely he will die. Suddenly, two Spartans came in. The queen let go of her daughter, telling her to run. As she did, one of the Spartans killed the queen. When the princess heard this, she slowed down, and turned her head, and she saw filled her with fear and sadness. She was about to exit when a voice called out, “Mother!” It was Lars. He ran towards her in fear into her arms, unknowing about the Spartans inside. One of them saw him running towards her, and quickly came over to check him out, grabbing him from Princess Katiari. “A boy?” After examining him, the Spartan dropped him, and got mad. He began yelling at the other Spartan, about how he failed to find out everything about the Amazons, and that this was not part of the plan. A group of Amazon guards came and shielded Katiari and the prince. Another group arrived and came from behind the Spartans, and ran them out of, and away from, the palace. A few more Spartans appeared, and informed the other two that they were too many Amazon warriors to fight. So the Spartans were forced to retreat. When Katiari asked Lars if he was hurt, he told her that he wasn't. “I was playing with Cora and Parthena, when the Spartans attacked. We panicked and ran. I’m sorry none of us fought back.” His mother sighed. “I think running was the right decision. Being brave isn't the same thing as getting yourself into trouble. It's when you take risks that are worth taking. Many were unprepared and unarmed. To be brave, you have to do smart things.” She hugged him and was glad that he was safe. However, her mood changed when he asked about the queen, reminding her of her death. She told him that his grandmother was killed by the Spartan that grab him. Upon hearing this, Lars started to cry. After the memorial of Hippolyte, Katiari became the new queen. The guards begged forgiveness for failing to arrive to save her mother in time, and asked what her first order was. She saw the prince looking sadly, into the distance. She excused herself to the guards, while she decided to comfort him. She placed her hand on his shoulder, getting his attention. “Why would they kill grandmother?” He asked. “The Spartans are a fierce man tribe who believe that war and dominance were all that was worth living for. You see, in the world of man, some people believe that the world of matriarchy is... unnatural. The Spartans are some of those people.” Prince Lars knew that the Amazons were a part of the world of matriarchy, and understood. Although he was still unhappy, as he began to weep. So the new queen hugged him tightly. “I miss her too. You actually had more of an effect on her life than anyone on this island, including me.” Lars looked up at her and asked, “Was it because I was born a son instead of a daughter?” “More than you know.” She said to him. She told the guards to start setting up ideas on an Amazon right of passage for males, then told Lars she was going to make sure he passed. Over the years, Queen Katiari found a method of a right of passage she liked, and started preparing Lars for it. While the woman’s right of passage included an obstacle corse, a very far swim, bows & arrows, and spear throwing, the male’s right of passage would be a little safer. Such as gymnastics, brain games, running while carrying eggs, sewing, and wrestling. Additionally, they would also require you to first speak the four Amazon Commandments: 1. Honor your mother and grandmother; 2. A warrior must fight for compassion, peace, and love; 3. Never purposely lie; 4. Honor the matriarchy. After the tests, they would have a ceremony where the queen would honor and present them as an Amazon citizen. However, the queen didn't think that was enough since the women were given gauntlets at their ceremony, while the males didn't yet have anything to be presented with in theirs. So she tasked a blacksmith to make an amulet necklace for Lars to wear, to represent his welcoming as an Amazon male.The queen began preparing the prince in ways, such as teaching him a few methods of wrestling, where he would use his opponent’s weight to his advantage. Another way she prepared him, was to improve his balance in egg carrying while walking on his toes while blindfolded. He was also taught a few ways of gymnastics, improving his flexibility and balance. When he was taught how to sew clothes and fabric, he was surprisingly better than the hired tailor. By the time he was sixteen, he felt ready for the new male right of passage. Although much has changed by that time. There were no more children on the island. Cora was now an official blacksmith, and even wore a black one-strip toga tunic and short gauntlets, representing her profession. Parthena had just finished her right of passage, and was now a muscular Amazon warrior, as she wore a long-sleeved tunic with bronze and silver armor and gauntlets to represent it, though normally didn't wear an Amazonian-Scythian helmet. Lars was now attempting right of passage, and he decided to wear a white toga chiton gown with a cloth around his neck as he usually did, and a thin forehead necklace. He passed gymnastics with his acrobatics, flexible legs, and balance. He was able to craft a pare of Scythian trousers and a toga tunic. He was able to finish the run that involves carrying an egg. He was able to prove his smarts in the brain games. Wrestling was the hardest, despite choosing his opponent, but he still managed to pin her. Although, the queen was not feeling well. So she had to delay the ceremony that finalized the acceptance. It was no surprise that no one pointed out that Lars was adopted, for it was considered disgraceful to judge the Amazon Royal Family, adopted or not. So fearing the outcomes of what would happen, people said nothing. That is until a few days after right of passage tests, when an old woman, who had nothing to lose, revealed that he was a Spartan. At first, he didn't believe him, claiming, “How dare you!? My mother told me I was blessed because I was born a male. Why do you claim I’m the enemy?” The old woman claimed that she was there when the queen first brought him to Themiscyra, but Lars was still not convinced until his mother requested him to come to her at the palace. There the queen, who was still sick, was sitting on her throne when Lars came. “Lars, you know I’d never lie to you. I just decided not to tell, but I've been hesitating to tell you this for so long. Sixteen years ago, your grandmother made me lead a mission to spy on Sparta, as rumors claimed that Sparta was going to attack Themiscyra. We were supposed to spy from a distance, without being seen, but everything changed when I saw an abandoned weak baby in the snow. I knew that boy wouldn't last long. So I took him in and nurtured him to health, and he survived. That baby was you. You’re adopted.” Lars was stunned to hear this. “I know, but I still love you, my son.” Lars ran away into his room. That night, Lars thought about what the old woman and Queen Katiari told him and began questioning himself. Over the next few nights, he would curl up into a ball, wondering if his life was a lie. Though he also felt that it couldn't be a lie, since it would be against the commandments. Soon as days went by, he decided to go to the oracle of the island. The oracle was known for her wisdom and foreshadowing, giving advice and guidance to those who were in need, for many years. Lars was now one of those in need. “Lars, do you seek guidance for who you are? Perhaps you found out about something you did not want to know, and are in doubt because of it.” Lars sighed and explained. “I found out that I’m actually a Spartan, and I'm not sure if I belong here. I know the Spartans did awful things, but was it for a good reason? Did the Amazons do something to them first? Did my real family secretly want me, or is my place here? What I'm trying to say is, where do I belong, and who am I really?” The oracle remained calm and said, “In order to find out where you belong, and find the right family, you must travel to Sparta. However, you must be careful. Sparta can be unpredictable, but if you stay there long enough, you will find yourself. Go take a boat, and make sure you know the way.” Lars was unsure if he should make the journey or not, knowing that the Spartans killed Queen Hippolyte. So he left to think about it. The next night, Lars finally decided to take the oracle’s advice and guidance. So he got a map, snuck over to the harbor, and approached the nearest sailboat the royal family owned, but when he got on the boat, he heard a voice. “Where are you going?” It was Cora. She happened to be walking nearby when she saw him enter the harbor. Lars explained everything to her, from him being a Spartan that was adopted by the Queen, to the oracle explaining that he would have to travel to Sparta to find out where he belongs. Cora was stunned when she heard that he was adopted as a Spartan baby, even shouting, “You’re not even a Scythian?!”, but surprisingly, she offered to go with him when he told her about the journey. “Why do you want to go to Sparta?” Cora sighed and explained, “I’m fifteen years old, and one of the only Amazons alive to have met their father. He died when I was four, but I remembered he use to explain to me about how the Gargareans lived and about the world of man. I really want to see it up close and personal. Maybe it would bring back memories.” Lars took pity on her. He never met her father, but he knew that the death of a family member was always unbearable. “Very well. Hop in.”As soon as Cona entered the boat, Parthena noticed them while she was on patrol. As they began to set sail, she ran as fast as she could to try to stop them. As a warrior, she promised to protect the Royal Family and her people, even if that meant keeping Lars from leaving the island. She dove into the water and swam after them. She was able to grab the boat, but the wind made the boat gain speed, and she was unable to bring it back to shore. Lars and Cora pulled her up and explained everything, including that Lars was adopted. “I’ve known that Lars was an adopted Spartan for years. My mother told me when I was little. She was there when the Queen found him, but the reason why I never told you two, was because we were afraid that would be shaming the Royal Family. Since Spartans were the enemies.” Cora was stunned that Parthena knew Lars was a Spartan, but both she and Lars understood. “As an Amazon warrior, it's my job to keep you safe, adopted or not. I would die for you, Lars.” After a moment of silence, Lars said, “I grant you permission to join. I don't know if I apply to the royal family, but I do know you can keep me safe during the journey.” Parthena smiled. “With that order, you saved me from abandoning my post.” It was the first time the three of them had been together at once in a long time, as they sailed onwards, leaving the island. As they crossed the open waters, they passed the island where the Gargareans used to exist before they went extinct. Cora explained that her father was the only survivor of the attack. “He and other Gargareans would make weapons and armor for the Amazons in exchange for sons. After he became the only one that survived, Queen Hippolyte took pity on him. Since her daughter decided to keep a son a month earlier, she figured it was time to break traditions and let him live with my mother for the rest of her life. He taught the woman he loved everything about being a blacksmith, and up until that point, they were only allowed to be with each other for a few days per year.” Both Lars and Parthena felt she was lucky to have met and lived with her father, even though he died when she was four. “Of course, they never told me that Lars was adopted, but that's fine.” She said as they kept sailing along. By the time they made it to the mainland, it was morning. They had taken turns steering the boat throughout the night, as two slept and the other steered. Parthena was the one steering when the boat when she docked it at the beach. Parthena took down the sail, then began to carve a face and symbol on the boat, naming it after the third Amazon queen, Hippolyta I. When Cora and Lars awoke, she told them they arrived even though it was already clear. Lars saw and walked up to a bird, excepting them to fly onto his finger, but they flew away instead. “The birds here are not like the ones that live in Themiscyra.” Partathena said to him. “They’re not used to people coming close to them. Also, things may be a little topsy-turvy for us.” Later, the three of them had bought food from a stand, when they began to look around the village near the beach, and saw that Parthena was sort of right. Many of the workers were men, including soldiers, marketeers, fishermen, and blacksmiths. The women they saw were either bakers, craftswomen, weavers, or stay-at-home mothers. Many of the men wore toga tunics, while many of the women wore toga gowns. What everyone else thought was normal, Lars, Cora, and Parthena thought it was strange. “Are you sure this was a good idea?” Parthena asked Lars. “No, but if the oracle suggested it, then perhaps we’re on the right path.” A child and his father walked passed them, when the child saw them. “That woman’s wearing armor.” He said while pointing at Parthena. His father looked at her and the group and saw what he was talking about. “Those are Amazons. A matriarch tribe from the tribal-state of Themiscyra. Their way of life is a little... “ Before the father could finish, he took a closer look at Lars. “I didn't know men lived on the island.” He said to him. Lars said nothing, as he just looked at the child. He had never seen another male one before. Cora spoke. “Actually, we don't call male Amazons men, we call them males or sons. Also, while he was raised by Amazons, he’s technical a Spartan.” The word Spartan got everyone’s attention. “Maybe the Amazons will have a peace treaty with Sparta.” Suddenly, a panic happened. People thought this was an actual plan, instead of something by chance. They assumed the worst, all ran indoors, while the three of them stood there, unsure how to react. Even the soldiers ran indoors in fear of the thought. Soon, only Lars, Cora, and Partathena were outside. “Was it something I said?” Cora asked. “I guess they don't want to know what would happen if the Amazons and Spartans worked together.” Lars said. They decided to move along. Out of the village, they went, and through the hilly plains, they went. They passed many creatures they only heard about but had never seen before. Out of the plains, they went, and through the forest, they went. They saw trees and trails they never even imagined. They found a river and followed it, they did. The landscapes and ferns made it more beautiful. They went up a steep hill, and away from the river, they went. When the night was getting close, they found a nice flat spot to set up camp. They built a fire, and sat close to it, as the sky became dark. Thinking about what Cora said, Lars couldn't help but wonder. “Why didn't the queen I call mother give me to the Gargareans?” He asked himself. Though he didn't expect a response, Parthena did. “My mother said that you were so weak and maladjusted, that sending you there would be a mistake. Her words, not mine.” After some silence, she asked Lars if she could ask something. When he said yes, she asked, “What if you go to Sparta and your real parents are dead or don't want you.” Lars sighed. “The oracle said that I would find out where I belong if I go to Sparta. She’s never specific about her predictions, but maybe that's because it's better to see for themselves. Besides, based on what she said, they could still be alive. I worry about them not wanting me, but I also hope that they do.” Parthena sighed and smiled. “I understand. I guess I would feel the same if I was adopted and just found out. Just know that I will always be on your side, always.” Lars looked at her and smiled. At that point, Cora came up in between Lars and Parthena and put her hands on their shoulders. “I support you too, both of you. After all, I did introduce you two to each other.” “True, though, my mother knew him first.” Parthena replied. “Two six-year-olds and one five-year-old.” Cora said. She patted their shoulders and sat back down, then there was peaceful silence, other than the relaxing popping of the fire. The next morning, they kept going on their journey. The hills, the rocks, the trees, they passed them all. Soon they found a sign pointing toward the path to Sparta, and that was the way they went. Scythians had no written language, but they still knew how to read other languages even though they somehow didn't know how to write them. After several hours of walking, they finally could see Sparta, but Parthena stopped, and made Lars and Cora stop too. “If I go with you further, and the Spartans see me, they'll likely see us as a threat. I’m sorry.” Cora was disappointed, and tried to say something, but all that she was able to say was the word “but”. Lars then asked if was leaving because she was wearing Amazon armor. “Yes, and I'm doing it to protect you. Cora has a higher chance of letting you survive than you, because of how she's dressed. If you live, you'll see why.” Lars looked at Sparta, then looked back at Parthena. “If you can find a different outfit that won't risk getting you killed, will you return for me?” “If I can.” Parthena replied. She promised this, and they said their goodbyes as she was given the map and left.After Parthena left, Lars and Cora came closer to Sparta. They came closer and closer, until Lars stopped, and made Cora stop too. Lars looked at the city near them, feeling nervous. He was afraid about what he would find out. “No turning back now.” Cora said. Cora saw Lars sit down, and he told her why he was nervous, as he began to breathe heavily. Cora patted his back. “I'm nervous too. You may not be able to handle it as well, but I’ll be coming with you. I’m your wing-woman.” Lars got up, feeling a little better, but not by much.Suddenly, footsteps were heard, and a group of Spartan warriors arrived and surrounded them. Most of them pointed their spears at them, but the one Spartan, that didn't, came closer, walking towards Cora and Lars. “Who are you, and what brings you here?” He asked. Lars told them everything important, from him being a Spartan raised by the Amazon royal family, to the oracle telling him to come to Sparta. “Is that so? I am the royal advisor for the king of Sparta.” The Spartan said. He trusted Lar’s claim, realizing that he was the boy the king ran into in Themiscyra. “The king had to rethink everything he knew about the Amazons, and he does not like false information.” “Maybe we can teach you, and you might present a peace treaty.” Cora said. The advisor and the other Spartans just looked at her. “Is that your slave?” The advisor asked Lars. “She’s my friend, and I agree with her.” He said. The advisor thought for a moment, then said “Maybe we should discuss that with the king. I swear, boy. You look just like him when he was younger, except he wasn't very slim but more muscular. Come, follow me.” So they did. They followed the advisor into the city, and soon towards the throne that of which the king was sitting. When Lars saw him, he was surprised to see that he had some familiar features to the Spartan that killed Queen Hippolyte II. He backed up a few steps, as the advisor explained to the king that he was the same boy from Themiscyra. He also explained that Lars was one of the many Spartan babies abandoned for not meeting health, physical, and mental requirements. Cora looked at Lars when she heard the advisor say, “He could even be your son.” The king took a closer look at Lars, then he looked at Cora, and then back at Lars. “I did have one son, though it was believed that he would never meet the expectations of life. Tell me, boy. Do you have any physical abilities, strength or skill?” Lars took a deep breath, and decided to show him some of his acrobatics, doing a double cartwheel, then a handstand backflip, followed by a backflip, then a front split, followed by a roll, and lastly a handstand flip. “Perhaps we were wrong about you, and the Amazons.” The King said, before telling Lars that they might be father and son. Lars was stunned to hear that he was his father, while Cora took it well. “So you are a prince.” She said to him. Lars backed up in fright. His seemingly real father understood his reaction. “I know what it's like to lose a loved one. You lost your adopted grandmother to me, and I lost my wife to an Amazon. Yes, I am the Spartan you ran into the other day, and thinking back to that day, I may have gone too far, and I’m sorry. Perhaps her people and my people have both made mistakes. Maybe you can teach me about the Amazons, and what we got wrong about them.“ “Does that mean you expect him, and will get a peace treaty?” Cora asked, after kneeling. “Yes. Also, what is your name, slave?” “Cora, and I'm a blacksmith. Amazons don't have any slaves.” The king took that as an example of what the Spartans got wrong. “Hopefully when you explain everything about the Amazons while learning about our way of life.” He said to Lars. Lars calmed down, and came closer, taking deep breaths. “I swear, I will harm any more Amazons, including their queen. I’m sorry for killing her mother.” Finally, after hearing the part about the queen, Lars felt like he could trust his father. Even though she wasn't his real mother, he still loved her as if she was. “I’m sorry that an Amazon killed my real mother. I hope none of us will kill any more of each other, especially my adoptive mother.” The King smiled and stood up. “Come. Let's get you properly dressed.” Soon, Lars and Cora were now dressed in Spartan clothes. Lars wore a red tunic, a red cloak, a necklace, braided hair, and ankle guards; while Cora wore a peplos gown, a belt, and a headband. Neither of them felt comfortable in the clothes, but the king said that they would get used to it. “The first thing you should learn about our people is how we dress, if we're not soldiers.” He said. The soldiers would wear tunics, bronze armor, ankle guards, and large bronze helmets with crests on top. Lars looked at the soldiers, then looked at the women near them. “This kind of feels topsy-turvy.” Cora said. Lars agreed though the king said that they would get used to it. “Tell me about Themiscyra.” The king said. Before Lars could say something, Cora began to walk but tripped on her gown. She began to lose her footing and fell over, but someone caught her, a young man about her age. He asked her if she was alright. The king approached them and said, “Just so you know, Galen, she's an Amazon blacksmith. She brought my long-lost son here.” Galen looked a Cora, and she looked at him. “Are you harmless?” He asked. “No. I'm Cora.” She said. She asked him if he was Galen and he said yes, before letting go of her. “Sorry. I'm not used to wearing this.” She said while showing her gown. The king decided to leave them alone, and take Lars somewhere else. He put his Lars’s back, and told him to come and have their discussion someplace else. As days passed, Lars had told his father much about the Amazons, and what was true or false about them. First off, He told him the Amazons weren't Greeks but Scythians. He also explained why the Scythians invited trousers, to protect their legs while horseback riding. One time his father asked him if it was true if some things he thought were unnatural really happened in Themiscyra, such as male goats being able to produce milk or something, and he said things such as, “Not outside of the Amazonian nor Gargarean roots.” When asked what really happened if Amazon boys were born, he claimed they were given to the Gargareans, unless they didn't know who the father was. Although things had to be changed after the Spartans killed them off. The king acted like he regretted it, and said that the only reason why they were wiped out was to make sure the Amazons couldn't be with the men they loved once a year and therefore could have children. Lars even said that boys were now raised to be feminine, as the girls were raised to be masculine, and he was the first to be raised this way. He also said that once an Amazon woman passed the right of passage, she gets her gauntlets and is officially declared an Amazon resident, and the queen wanted males to earn amulets. His father showed him Spartan games, sports, and weapons. In exchange, he explained to him about Amazon games, weapons, and even ships. His father explained that Spartans fought to expand and prove honor to their people by doing whatever it takes. The king also revealed that Galen was the advisor's son and that he was just two years away from completing his training, for Spartan men would train to become warriors even if they won’t be. The king even showed Lars the hot springs. He told him about Spartan slang, such as éla meaning “let’s go”, and Lars told him about Amazon slang, such as man tribe meaning “patriarchy”. Lars and his father kept explaining more and more about the Amazons and the Spartans to each other, day by day, and during activity after activity. Meanwhile, Parthena decided to take a long detour to explore more cities and locations. As she traveled, she thought about Lars and Cora but mostly Lars. She thought about what he said. “If you can find a different outfit that won't risk getting you killed... “ She along the way, she noticed a village in ruins, then farms in ruins. She ignored this and moved on. One night, back at Sparta, the king was busy doing something and requested that Lars go with the advisor to the hot springs. So the advisor took him and Galen there, and when they got there, they all undressed and got in. While they sitting in the hot springs, Lars looked around and sighed. “Is it true the Amazons are interested in women?” The advisor asked. “Some are, and some aren't. It feels like a dice roll.” Lars replied. “So are there any you’re in love with?” The Advisor asked. Lars’s heart skipped a beat. He wanted to answer the question, but when he tried to say something, it felt like an invisible wall was keeping the words from leaving his mouth. “We won't judge you. Is there someone special there you’re in love with?” The advisor said.Meanwhile, Cora was passing the entrance to the hot springs, when she heard Lars and the Advisor. “Yes, she’s also one of my best friends!” “Is she beautiful?” “I think so. She’s also brave and strong, and cares for others.” Cora knew exactly who Lars was talking about. She dashed through the entrance and began jumping with joy. “Yes! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!” No one in the hot springs was wearing anything, and they just stared at her, but she ignore this. “May I come in?” She asked. “Sure.” Lars calmly said. Cora undressed and jumped into the hot springs. “I’m proud of you.”She said while hugging him. Many of the people in the hot springs either stared or left, but the advisor just guessed Cora was who Lars was talking about. “What?!” They both shouted. “No, her I only like as a friend.” Lars said. “It feels like he's my brother.” Cora said. A few more people left the hot springs, as Lars said, “It’s my other best friend, Parthena.” Lars said. “Maybe we can have a double wedding, I can be your best woman and you my best male!” She shouted in excitement, as even more people left.She then asked Galen if he had a wife, but before he could answer, Lars pulled her back. “Calm down, Cora. What’s gotten into you?” Cora sighed and sat down lower and lower until the water was up to her neck. “I'm sorry. Parthena and I lost touch with each other after Queen Hippolyte II died, but you were always there for both of us. You kept me updated, and based on what you said, and what I finally saw, it felt like you had more than a best friend relationship.” She sighed again, then said, “Truth is I only told you one of the reasons why I joined you. My father died when I was little, and my memories of him are fading. I feel that if I met someone that reminded me of him and my mother's love, my memories of him would live on.” “I'm sorry to hear that.” Galen said to her. He then told her that he lost his mother when he was little, and at seven years old his life became even harder. When a Spartan turns seven, training begins, and for boys, it was brutal. The girls might have had it easier, but not by much. “Sometimes, I feel like I'm not meant for these people.” Galen said as a tear came out of his eye. “I'm glad you understand.” Cora said. They both smiled and blushed, before Galen, meaning to ask if she had a husband, accidentally asked, “Do you have a wife?” At first, he was ashamed of what he said, but Cora giggled, and jokingly said, “No. Do you have a husband?” As Galen giggled and said no, Lars watched and felt joy for his friend, but Galen’s father pulled his son out of the water, refusing to let him be in love with an Amazon. As Galen took a step, he fell into the water, onto Cora, and accidentally kissed her. “Sorry. I slipped and fell.” To his surprise, Cora not only understood, but she didn't mind. As the Advisor took his son out of the hot springs, they dressed and left, leaving Cora and Lars alone, with Cora having feelings for Galen, and Lars being unsure what to think. Meanwhile, Parthena had just made it to the sailboat called Hippolyta I, and had even bought paddles in case the wind was blowing the wrong way, but by then, she was starting to have thoughts about turning back. She thought about their journey, then remembered the people’s reaction of the possibility of the Spartans signing a treaty with the Amazons, and the island of the Gargareans, and the ruins she passed. She looked at the village nearby, and began to worry. She remembered what the people at the village were wearing. She took one last look at the sea, before turning around and going to the market, and buying a toga chiton tunic. The next day, after Lars showed the king how well he could balance on a log, he explained that some parts of the road in Themiscyra might get slippery when wet, usually on the hills. The Amazons would often use this to their advantage against attackers going up hill, especially during the day time when invaders are most likely to come. “Is there anything else I should know about the Amazons?” The king asked. Lars had by that time told him about the building types, the military styles, the false information and rumors, the different types of clothes, and even the animals they never hunt. So Lars replied, “Other than the fact no clothes are required to swim or relax in the springs and ponds of water, I think I just told you everything important.” “... then it seems you’re no longer useful.” The king said. Suddenly, the king ordered the guards to grab Lars. “What are you doing? I’m your son.” “That may be true, but you were never raised to be a Spartan, and because of your flaws, you were never given a name and you were cast out. Those man hunters then somehow found and instead of killing you, they took you in for some reason.” The king knew that Lars would be willing for a father figure, and figured that since he might be his son anyway, he would pretend to bond with him, and pretend to feel sorry for killing people, to get him to reveal the flaws of the Amazons and their tribe, and that he never once planned on signing any peace treaties with anyone, especially them. “Take him away to the dungeon!” The King shouted at the guards. So they did, as Lars felt used and betrayed. The person he called “father” didn't want him, and already he wished his mother was near, even if she wasn't his real one. That night, while Lars was in the dungeon, Cora was somewhere else, and had not only heard about what happened to him, but heard the guards were now looking for her too. Tired of wearing her Spartan clothes, she found her toga tunic and gauntlets and changed into them. As soon as she sat down, she heard a voice. “I didn't Amazons had togas.” It was Galen. “It’s fine. I'm not going to turn you in, I promise. I'm sorry that my father and the others are looking for you. Maybe I can help you escape, and you get help.” “I can't go back without Lars.” Cora said. She explained that if she did, she would be forever shamed for not even trying to protect or help the adopted prince at the right time, including attending him to the Spartans and getting him into trouble. In other words, she felt stuck trying to run away, knowing that she was a much better blacksmith than she was at combat. “Even if you take me to him, we'll never be able to leave the dungeon.” She said. Both agreed that it would be heavily guarded from the inside.As they left the building, Galen asked what she was going to do. “I might live the rest of my life running and hiding until I find a new place to call home, then win it’s people’s trust and hopefully free him.” Galen didn’t think that was a good idea, for there was no place for her to go. “Even if you find a place, how would you convince all of its people to to save the adopted son of Themiscyra?” While Cora was answering the question, Parthena had made her way into Sparta, and was now looking for her and Lars. She noticed Cora talking to Galen, but could barely hear them from the distance. He then picked up a sword from a stand while telling Cora an idea of a distraction, but Parthena, not being able to hear this, thought he was going to hurt her. She then quickly picked a spear from the stand next to her, and charged at them. She pushed him down, and as she pointed the spear at him, Cora stopped her. “Wait! Parthena! He’s on our side. He wants to help Lars. This is Galen, and his father's the king’s advisor. I heard king used Lars and threw him in the dungeon. Galen was just suggesting how to free him.” Parthena pointed the spear away from him but wasn't sure to trust him until he told them how felt about the Spartans treating their children. “I’ve seen how people who aren't Spartans treat their children with love and support, while Spartans from the day they were born were treated with disrespect and abuse because they believed that love was a form of weakness. Though I often question this belief for many reasons.” Parthena brought him up to his feet. “Now that we have Parthena by our side, we now have a better chance of freeing Lars.” Cora said hinting that she was a warrior. Parthena sighed and asked if he knew exactly where Lars was being kept in the dungeon. Meanwhile, Lars was in a dungeon cell, crying and wondering why he trusted the king. Was it because he never had a father figure? Maybe. Was it because he didn’t know himself that well? Maybe. Was it because he didn’t know where belonged? Maybe. He did know that the Spartans fought with honor, but for discipline, obedience, and power, while Amazons fought with honor, but for compassion, peace, and love. So what made him still cast aside? What made the king, his father, still want to harm the Amazons? Do they destroy all that they think is weak? That was what it sounded like. He felt used and misguided by the king, his own father lying to him, but he remembered the Amazons, and their queen, who decided to raise him her way, the way Amazons would have raised their sons if kept. He began to wish he never left Themiscyra.Suddenly, Lars heard voices coming from the small cell window at the top of the wall behind him. He looked and heard a familiar voice, asking if his window showed the right cell. A shortish-long-haired person looked down at the cell, and after getting a closer look, he saw that it was Cora. As soon as she said that it was the right one, and told Lars not to worry, then came to the window, Parthena and Galen. Lars looked at Parthena, feeling that it was good to see her, but seeing Galen, he didn't know if he could trust him. Parthena was also excited to see him and admitted to him that while she still didn't trust Galen, she also felt that he would be useful for providing information about the Spartans, both on Sparta and their fighting methods. She also felt that if Cora trusted him, then it must be worth it. Lars noticed that Parthena had a spear, and remembered that Cora was a blacksmith. “Cora, have you worked on window bars like those?” He asked. Cora checked out the bars on the window, and told him they could be bent or broken if they were hot enough. The only problem was none of them had torches. Lars turned around and saw a torch, and next to it were the keys to his cell, possibly placed in front of the cells knowing that the prisoners would go insane trying to reach for it even though they couldn't. He then ask if they had anything long such as a spear. “I have this spear. Why?” Parthena asked. “I'm thinking of using it to reach the key, then leave the cell to get the torch before the guards get here.” Parthena gave Lars the spear, and using two hands, he used the spear to reach and get the keys. After he used the keys to unlock the door, he grabbed the torch, but went back into the cell, because he knew it was too risky to leave through the usual way. He held the torch close to the window bars, and while at first, nothing happened, in time the bars slowly melted enough to become loose. When it looked loose enough, Parthena kicked the bars, causing them to break off the window.Parthena helped Lars out of the window and brought him outside. “Did the Amazons tell you that our king only had one son, and abandoned him in the snow, and was that you?” Galen asked him. Parthena answered the question. “Our queen, Katiari, was just a princess when she did find Lars in the snow as a baby, and if her mother knew that if your was his father, she would have forced her to give him back to the father, as Amazons had always done with their sons at the time.” “Mother always told me that because since I was a son, and nobody knew who my father was, I made an impact on the royal family, including my grandmother.” Lars knew about the giving back to fathers policy, though after the deaths of the Gargareans, the Amazons, knowing that the Gargareans were the main Scythians who agreed to be their fathers, knew they had to make some changes. Lars explained everything about how boys would now be raised to be feminine, and the girls were raised to be masculine. “That’s a little topsy-turvy, but I still think we should warn the Amazons about the upcoming invasion.” Galen said. “I know about the king and why he does this, oh, and tell the Amazons I'm not a threat.” They left Sparta, and on the way to the boat, Galen decided to explain why the king was doing all of these bad things. The king, along with his Spartan followers, was obsessed with superior over the weak and survival of the fittest. Spartans were supposed to be the strongest warriors in their world, and he believed that every city he saw as weak must be taken over or destroyed. The king felt that the Scythians, including the Amazon and Gargareans, were weak and dishonorable, especially the Amazons’ goal to fight for compassion, love, and peace, and the Gargareans’ goal to fight for hope, courage, and peace. He wanted everything to be perfect, from the people to the knowledge. He also believed that the weak held the biggest threat in large numbers. So he would spread discipline, obedience, and power with every attack before they had the chance to fight back, yet he still relied on knowledge of those places and their people. The knowledge affects his plans, and if one flaw in the knowledge was shown, then he believed that the plan would go horribly wrong, even going as far as forcing the army to retreat due to one hint of false information, because as far as he knew, everything he learned was wrong. Luckily, Galen explained that it usually took a few days to plan before an attack, but they still had to hurry. They took the quickest way to the boat, and continued to move forward with little to no time to waste. They sped walked and sped walked, understanding that running would just cause them to stop to rest, and they had to get to the boat as quickly as possible. Finally they made it to what they assumed to be the right boat. So Parthena checked and saw the carved face and symbol of Hippolyta I, revealing that it was the right boat. It wasn't long before they set sail, and even used their new paddles if the wind wasn't blowing in the right direction or if they weren't going fast enough. After hours of moving on open waters, they finally made it to Themiscyra. Galen thought it was interesting that the Amazon tribe blinded Scythian culture with Greek elements, particularly the clothes. The people who were soldiers and guards wore Scythian armor, with helmet looking different based on their role, and the ones who weren't wore Greek clothing, such as togas. He even saw an Amazonian mother with a baby, which Lars, Cora, and Parthena found to be odd, since Cora was the last born child, and none of the other Scythian tribes agreed to become fathers to Amazons, at least as far as they knew. Although, they didn't think it was worth worrying about at the moment. So they walked to the palace.Some Amazons stared at Galen, but were unsure if he was a threat or not since he was with Lars, Cora, and Parthena. The staring continued as they made it into the palace. Queen Katiari was sitting on the throne, so sad that she was looking down on the floor, and sighed a few times. When Lars saw her, he approached alone. When he came close enough for her to notice, she looked up and saw him. She began to stand up, but she was nervous about the way he was dressed, as he was still wearing his clothes from Sparta. So held back her feelings, and could only hope for the best, or fear the worst, as she said quietly, “Lars, the oracle told me why you left. Did you find out where you belong?” “Yes, the right family, it was here all along. I’m a son of Themiscyra, mother.” Understanding what he meant, she let her feeling out and smiled, then tightly hugged him, with tears of joy. She then took a look at him, and sniffed. Lars hugged her back, and said, “I'm sorry for leaving. I’m sorry for all that came after.” They looked at each other with joy. “I'm guessing things didn't go well in Sparta. I'm sorry about that, but I'm just glad you're back.” She smiled at him, and hugged him again, and rubbed her hand on his, as he hugged back.Feeling that they’ve waited long enough, Cora, Galen, and Parthena approached her. The queen saw them, and when they were close enough, they kneeled before her, showing her that they mean no harm. “Forgive me for interrupting this reunion, but we bring Galen of Sparta, while I have little trust for him, the blacksmith Cora and Prince Lars have hope that he’s on our side.” Parthena said. She then told her that he and Lars have something important to warn her about. She released Lars, and they both told her everything, from being used by the Spartan king to his motivations and plans. “I see.” The queen said when they were done. “Laurentius, according to Amazonian traditions, if we had known your father the father was the king of Sparta, I would have been forced to give you back to him, even though we were enemies as sworn as we are with evil werecats. However, when found you, I didn't he was, and my mother took pity on you since if just left you in the snow, you would have died. You may be an Amazon by blood, but after I was allowed to keep you, I saw you as an Amazon son, my son. Things even changed after the Gargareans were whipped out. The last one never would have been allowed to live in Themiscyra, if it weren't for you. There was even a baby born on the island a few days ago, and even if his father never died, the boy would have been still allowed to be kept because of you. You made a bigger impact on this island more than any Scythian could have.” Lars felt uplifted as he felt accepted upon hearing this. Queen Katiari asked Galen if the there would be any way to delay the Spartans attack, since she needed time to prepare. “Well, the King does like to wrestle, as well as making bets. Although, he has been known to go against his ways of perfection when he loses, to say the least.” She asked him if the king would be willing to wrestle an Amazon before he could start an attack, and make a bet on it. When he told her he would, she told a messenger all of the important information and sent her to Sparta. Later in Sparta, the king was in a meeting, planning the attack. His advisor thought that the Amazons kidnapped his son. He told them every part of his plan, leaving nothing out, including reminding them he used his son, and his need for a father figure. Just when he was about to end the meeting, a group of Spartan soldiers brought the Amazon messenger to him. “My king, we bring a messenger from Themiscyra. She claims she has a message for you and your advisor, and it's from their queen.” The king held his hand out, excepting a scroll. “It’s a verbal message, nothing written, I just tell you by memory.” The messenger said. The king put his hand down, and sat down as he listened. “We heard you were going to attack us, because the advisor’s son ran away and sided with the Amazons, and your son, Prince Laurentius, escaped and warned us. The queen now knows you know about structures and lifestyles so it would be easier to destroy our homes and people. However, she is willing to make a bet. You will challenge your son to a wrestling match, and if he wins, you call off the attack and never attack Themiscyra again, but if you win, we will let you attack but won't fight back, and we will be your slaves. Said by Queen Katiari.” Most of the Spartans didn't know how they felt about they heard. The king thought it would be easy to beat Lars, but thought it was odd that they were using the slim and trusting son of his. He was stunned that he was able to escape, but still thought it wasn't a challenge. So he accepted the bet, gave the messenger a written message, not understanding how Scythians couldn't write but could read, and then sent the her back onto her horse, and back to Themiscyra. The messenger returned, and she read the message scroll to the queen and Lars, who was now in a white toga gown. “Queen of Themiscyra, as the king of Sparta, I expect your bet. My maladjusted son, whom my wife and I abandoned, may have gymnastic abilities, but that can never compare to my strength and skill in wrestling. I let my guard down when he caused me to question if those stories of your kind were true, but now I know everything about the Amazons, and nothing is going to confuse me to force me to retreat. You should have chosen one of your strongest soldiers instead, but it's too late. My advisor and I will come alone, with two flags, black for lost and white for won, and when one waves, my soldiers will attack. You've been warned.” The queen wasn't worried, but Lars was. He began to breathe heavy, since he was nervous. So the queen put her hand on his shoulder, and brought up an amulet attached to a webbing necklace. “I was going to give this to you at your ceremony, but I think for now you need a conference boost.” She put it around his neck, then hugged him tightly. “Whatever happens, you'll always be a son of Themiscyra to me. Just remember that wrestling style I helped teach you. He weighs more than you. You may have an advantage.” Once the queen released him, he touched and felt the amulet, feeling a little better but by much. The queen understood this and sighed and smiled, figuring that he needed to get his mind off his worries. So she put her hand on his shoulder, and asked, “If you could add to the commandments, what would they be?” Lars gave three suggestions: 5. A Male Amazon must cherish his children; 6. Husbands must help their wives if needed; 7. Honor the husband and wife your paired with. He felt even better, after this, especially when he was wished luck. Two days later, a fleet of ships came to the island’s waters, but stayed put, as the king and his advisor came on land with some of his guards, where they met the queen and her guards. They took up the hill, and into a building, where they went up the stairs and reached the next floor where Lars and a few others, including Cora, Galen, and Parthena. The advisor saw Galen and asked why he ran away and why he was on the Amazon’s side. “You’ve been under-supportive of me, and I feel like I don't belong in Sparta, and after I met Cora, I began to question what I knew about the Amazons. All Spartans care about is proving themselves to be powerful. Maybe the false rumors started to keep people away from them and see them as bad when the Spartans are even worse than any of those portrayals. “ “You dare put Sparta to shame, Galen?!” The advisor said.“Enough.” The king said. The advisor opened his mouth to say something, only for the king to tell him that the sooner he beats Lars, the sooner they attack the island and take the Amazons as slaves. The king stepped into the wrestling circle. After Parthena kissed Lars, and Cora patted his back, he took one last look at his adoptive mother before stepping into the circle as well. Soon they were told they needed two pins to win, and then they began to wrestle. At first, it seemed as though Lars was going to lose, since the king was stronger and heavier than him, getting the first pin, but then he began to use the king's strength and weight against him, allowing him to take him down and pin him. With the score tied, it felt like a good time for some people to worry, with only one pin left to win, but it had to continue. The king tried to take his son down, but his agility and clever thinking allowed him to wear down the king, making it even easier to bring him down and pin him. He did pin him, the pin needed to win.At first, it seemed that it was time for the Amazons to celebrate winning the bet, but the king refused to admit defeat, and stole a sword from one of the guards. “That match was unfair! The boy didn't even use his strength during the last two rounds! I demand a rematch! This time, a fair fight!” In anger, he pointed the sword at Lars, and despite losing the bet, refused to leave until he would get a rematch. The Amazonian guards tried to fight back, but the Spartan guards stopped them. The advisor grabbed Galen’s arm and tried to take him back, against his will, but Cora stopped his father and took him down, causing him to release him. “That’s enough!” The queen shouted, stopping the fight. “Listen. Prince Lars beat you fair and square. You’re just not used to his style. You were so focused on strength and skill, that you forgot about quickness and cleverness.” The king didn't like what he heard and refused to believe her. So he tried to strike Lars down, with the sword, only for Parthena to throw her sword and hit him. The king then backed up in pain, and fell off the building to his doom. After the Spartans left, seeing no reason to continue the attack now that the king was gone, the Amazons knew that they would never return. Lars was nevermore seen nor saw himself as a Spartan, and Galan chose to side with the Amazons because he felt better treated, especially by Cora. Therefore, both Galan and Lars stayed. Lars gave the amulet back to Katiari, until his ceremony. Galan began training from Cora for his right of passage, becoming the second male to do so, after Lars’s ceremony, and during that ceremony, Katiari presented her son's amulet and placed it back around his neck. He was then deemed an Amazon citizen, and he felt accepted, especially after learning the impact he had on Themiscyra. He even had an impact on Parthena, who became engaged in marriage to him, and because of him, she would become the next queen if Katiari’s time would come. By just being there for his people and his family, the prince made an impact when he wasn't trying, and made an impact when he was trying.
The legend of the origin of the grapes. by DandelionPawPrint
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Royal sick helluva boss audio story by filmcity
Seeing voices an helluva boss audio story by filmcity
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Not all fun and games audio story by filmcity
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Good Company by PeterPixyHarrison
Shame on You Thousands of TimesShame on You Thousands of TimesYussra MT Ebrahim1/10/2024 On the night before South Africa’s genocide case against Israel is reviewed by the International Court of Justice, I’ve sent the letter below to the United States president and his friends.Dear War Criminals,The West called Nelson Mandela a terrorist, and now they celebrate him. How fitting that South Africa is leading the cry for freedom against the tyranny of Western imperialism now. The tide is turning in favor of justice yet again, despite your best efforts, and Palestine will be free, regardless of your evil actions, and regardless of the outcome of this case.This vicious genocide, waged by the US and Israel upon children in the thousands and political prisoners and journalists and doctors and an indigenous people who have suffered decades of military occupation, apartheid rule, inhumane siege, and unprecedented bombardment of the world’s most densely populated concentration camp with explicitly voiced intent to ethnically cleanse the region, is so glaringly wrong that none of your lies can convince anyone anymore who isn't already hell-bent on deluding themselves with sugarcoated Islamophobic, racial supremacist propaganda. Is there an international law left that you haven't violated? You might consider your careers more important than human rights and Palestinian lives, but in the grand scheme, your reign of terror is as limited as your moral compass.Still, it's disturbing how easy it is for you to justify mass murder, while the rest of us stay up late each night worrying if we've inadvertently caused any harm to anyone's feelings that day. If anyone reading these words has a drop of conscience left sparking within them, then allow me to join the chorus of voices urging you to do what little you can with whatever power you have to help bring an end to this ultimate threat to the human race; either way, the wrongdoers are already and eternally doomed, and I pray to be among those testifying against them, in this life and the next. You were never our leaders, but our prison guards, and the show you put on for your benefit alone won’t ever stop us from saying shame on you thousands of times, once for every life you've destroyed.Sincerely, Yussra Ebrahim (An Iraqi Muslim Woman Whose Country You Might Recall Destroying)
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Admins

Poets and Writers is a group dedicated to the creation of literature, particularly fiction. Any poems or short stories are accepted, and all are allowed to join. [see "Rules"]

Founder


:iconglimmerofthemoon:
glimmerofthemoon

Recent Journal Entries

Edit: There is now a gallery folder for these works, entitled "SpicyBasil's Publishing Project." All you works can be submitted there.

Calling all members of PaW, HattasMadTeacup here! A deviant, SpicyBasil, has an exciting idea and proposal to anyone willing to help her out. I'll copy and paste to you what was in her note, explaining her idea:

"I want to start a movement and change some things in this darkening world. To do this, I need help from others. I can't do it by myself. This is where I need you!

I want to hold a contest, but I only have one prize to offer. Maybe others can pitch in to make it more enticing. I can offer the chance to have work seriously published. I have a friend in the publishing business that can pull strings and really put this idea out there. I want each contestant to write a poem, story, essay, or song about what they would do to change the world or to write about the world itself to open a reader's eyes. I want fifty final entries and I am asking other groups as well. If the groups would like to participate in the selection, then each group could give me their top twenty options and I will pick and choose from there, compile it and prepare it for submission.

I do not want any of the writer's personal information until the book is ready for submission. I want to distribute any profits equally, but I don't want any of the writers to feel like they must jeopardize their safety until I absolutely need it.

This is a lot to process, but it's an idea that I want to see pull through. Your help would be very much appreciated. You may alert all of your affiliates and spread this all over Deviant Art if you wish. Please consider my proposal and get back to me as soon as possible. Thank you very much for your time!"

This idea was inspired by one of her submitted deviations, found here: fav.me/d3h98y2

Essentially, what SpicyBasil is trying to do is get about fifty entries like this, written by people who have been through dark times, basically talking about what they'd do to change the world (as stated above.) Publishing is not guaranteed, but it's still really cool to get in on this. I encourage you all to get your writing fingers ready and help SpicyBasil out!

That's all, if you have any questions I think you can contact her. :)
More Journal Entries

Rules, Please Read to Join Group [and more]

RULES

:bulletred: 7 maximum Deviations per week please!

:bulletred: No mature content. UNLESS it is submitted to the mature content folder. A little strong language is okay in the regular folders as long as you have the art properly tagged.

:bulletred: Submit your work to the right folder category in the gallery.

:bulletred: No hate comments, no flames. We want to be a friendly community. :icondoublehugplz:

:bulletred: The rules of DA still apply here. -> about.deviantart.com/policy/et…

:bulletred: 3 maximum submitted favorites per week please members!

:bulletred: Try not to Fave and run! It's not forbidden, but we prefer constructive comments that will help a person grow as an literary artist.

:bulletred: Only the first chapters or Prologues of Novels please!



:faq:
FAQ

Q: How do I submit an entry to a contest?

A: Submit your entry to the correct gallery! DO NOT expect us to dig it up in a deluge of devs that we get each day. We don't look at each one unless we have the time to look at them individually. So submit it to the contest folder or else, as far as we're concerned, it doesn't exist.



Helpful places:
:bulletblack: TheWritersMeow's article on the "Do's" and "Don't" of publishing: fav.me/n50484
:bulletblack: How to submit to the gallery: fav.me/d2gddw0
:bulletblack: Tutorials on writing: tutorialsclub.deviantart.com/



Literary-Perceptions is having a contest! They are looking for judges and prize donations, click their name to find out more!


Because our list of affiliates is SO large, we've moved them to our "about us page". We'd love if you'd visit it.
If you would like to be one of our affiliates, please note us.

Deviants

Comments


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:iconnightligt:
NightLigt Featured By Owner May 1, 2020  Hobbyist Writer
Looks like a dead group.
Reply
:iconhopesunset:
HopeSunset Featured By Owner Aug 20, 2019
Hello! Is anyone active here yet? Recently I've finished writting my story about friendship, love, finding hope/reasons to live and fight against evil, and been planning to write the continuation. :)
Reply
:iconneo128:
Neo128 Featured By Owner Sep 26, 2017   General Artist
:meow:
Reply
:iconapriloneilstickler:
AprilONeilsTickler Featured By Owner May 16, 2017  Hobbyist Writer
I cannot add my poems, it keeps saying the file is too big, why?
Reply
:iconprincesscsc:
Princesscsc Featured By Owner Dec 7, 2016  Hobbyist Writer
Hey you might need some new poem folders! ThanksHug :) (Smile) 
And I'm new so yay! I guess..
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:iconagent36496:
Agent36496 Featured By Owner Sep 15, 2016   Writer
Reply
:iconluckyspirit14:
LuckySpirit14 Featured By Owner Jan 1, 2016
Youn need new poem folders. they are all full. Thank you! :hug:
Reply
:iconlennorasilverstone:
LennoraSilverstone Featured By Owner Aug 8, 2015  Hobbyist Writer
Hello everyone, I'm new here on DA and this group, a writer just starting out. I have just finished my first work and will be posting parts of it on my DA profile until I get a decent amount of people to share the whole thing with.
If anyone is interested in erotic novels, please give the TEASER of my new book a shot! More to come soon! 
Don't forget to +fav  and +Watch if you enjoyed Heart 
Reply
:iconaivilo3261:
Aivilo3261 Featured By Owner Apr 12, 2015  Hobbyist Writer
Can you add a new folder for poetry? The fourth one is full.
Reply
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