MARI

I sit in my fields wondering why my parents abandoned me, thinking about makes me cry. I wonder if there are others out there like me. No I'm just being stupid, I say as I walk to the family that raised me.

Sorry it was short. 

Azelé~

I reach over my shoulder and pull an arrow from my quiver. It's a simple enough arrow, with swallow feathers, but it's sturdy and unbroken. I brace it against the string. Taking a deep, even breath, I point it at a doe I can see nibbling delicately on the soft grass that grows under the tallest tree in the forest, feed by the dew that dribbles down off the leaves. Breathing out slowly, I let it go. As I do so I allow the fire to blossom onto the wood, substained upon it but not completely incinerating it. The arrow hits the doe right in the eye. I can feel the fire's empowerment spreading through my body, blossoming from the spot where it always begins, the palm of my hands. It races up my arms and slowly seeps through my entire body, making me feel like I just took a short, light nap. In a continuous little rivelet of energy now, it moves through me, making me feel awake and alive. 

Despite the feeling I try to keep my concentration on the fire. I let the fire spread from the wood to the light, honey-colored fur that growns on the doe, then to the tail, but try not to let it burn the skin. When the skin is golden brown in the places I can see, I pull back the fire. The fire is reluctant to leave, but I drag it back. The moment is too long and it singes a spot near the head.

Good enough. I nod to Kevu, and she dives in, clawing and yanking and pulling and devouring the doe. I flop back on the cool, slightly damp grass, watching her gobble it up. I perfer not to eat or kill animals-- I don't need to, and it's a senseless death-- but Kevu needs to eat. Some small part of me enjoys the hunt, although I always ridicule myself for it.

~~

I'll write more later. 

Pen~

I carefully step out of the building, pulling my hair into a knot. Smirking to myself, I lick off the remaining bread crumbs. The day was like any other, with all its patterns and what nots. I pause for a moment, before continuing down the road.

I don't even need my eyes to know where to go. It's all such a pattern... I shake my head. No. Don't go into your thoughts...

Shoving my nails into my hands and walk some more. Breath, Pen, breath. Shoving my hands into my pocket, I grab a couple of dollars and wait by the bus stop.

"Hey there!" It's someone else. I turn toward them, though there isn't much point. It's a boy named James, some kind of hyper and excited 14 year old. I bite my lip.

"Yes?" I coldly reply. He backs away for a moment, and then continues.

"S-sorry... I'm James, by the way." He reaches into his pocket and grabs something. A kendama, I already know. A human toy used for fun.

"Kendama?" I point at it.

"Yes! Want to try?" He pulls my hand out and puts it in my hand. I smirk, and try it our.

Popping the ball on the big cup, I bounce the kendama so that the ball does an alien on the spike. With James gaping, I twirl the kendama around on my finger, then finally take a rest on the small cup.

I don't wait for James to react once I jump onto the bus. 

(Brookeira, let’s not have them meet anyone else because St. wanted this to be slower.)

Nightingale~

l jerk the handlebars in an attempt to swerve around the girl, but the motorcycle's going too fast, and it tumbles off the road into a tree. l jump off just soon enough to prevent myself from getting trapped under the motorcycle.

“Grr…..” l mumble, switching off the engine and trying to set it upright. The back wheel axle is twisted.

l glance up to the road, forgetting for a moment that the girl is still here.

Darkwing is perched in a tree, curious but cautious. “What do you want?” l hiss at the girl. l really would be going now, but l can’t get anywhere until l fix the axle. l can’t see her that well in the dim moonlight, and that means that she can’t see me, either, of which l am glad.
“Your wheel axle is twisted.” She says. How did she know?

“And you were in a hurry to get somewhere. Somewhere important.”

She knows too much, whomever she is.

l climb up to the road, then give her a fake smile, fully displaying all of my many sharp and jagged teeth and bat-ears.  Darkwing takes off with a screech and starts to circle around in the air.

Run girl, while you still can.

I forgot to put something up there that I should have. The scientists don't have many test subjects/cloning army people, so they cloned THEMSELVES to collect more. The scientists are basically undefeatable until someone destroys every last note about cloning.

Hestia~

Kendall and I have a roof over out heads tonight.

Of course, being an owl, Kendall doesn't really like the cave. I don't like it much either, for that matter. I'm so used to sleeping in trees that all of the large space inside the cave is uncomfortable. And I lived in a tree when I lived with the owls.

Don't think about them, I tell myself firmly. Do not think about the owls. Kendall has never seen you cry, and he never will.

I go out of the sheltered cave and back into the trees. It's started to drizzle, and the rain makes a soft swish-swish sound on the leaves. It feels so good, out here in the wild, watching the rain form into puddles, water dripping down the leaves of the trees.

I have always been here.

I will always be here.

This is my element.

****

Soon I'm sitting back in my cave, under a roof, with a crackling, merry fire dancing and lighting up the dark corners. As I look around, I realize it isn't actually so big: it's just so dark in the back that it seems like it could stretch to infinity.

Outside, the rain is coming down very hard. Kendall has joined me indoors, even though he doesn't like the fire or the cave very much. I assure him that later he can go out and find a tree.

I stare into the fire for a while, twiddling my anklet and chewing my nails, until my eyes start to feel heavy and I drift off to sleep.

Laurie~

Laurie flew down from her tree - where she was sleeping - and Flix followed silently behind her. Flix meowed softly.

"I know, I know. We'll get food soon," Laurie said as she walked to the loud nightlife of her town. She felt a figure creeping behind her. She whipped out a halo. "Wh-who's there?"

((Sorry guys how far behind am I.)) 

Oh, and, Justice can communicate with her horse.

Justice-

Siv’s hooves skim an inch off the ground. Her white mane blows gently in the wind, and her wings hang limp besides her. She can’t fly any higher; she was born with a problem with one of the joints in her wings. Yes, Siv is a flightless Pegasus. Kind of an oxymoron, don’t you think?

Around me, the forest is silent. Or so it seems. When I close my eyes, I find it’s very noisy. The sound of the earth and the air is a gentle blur, like distant ocean waves.

We stop by an apple tree. I pluck one and feed it to Siv.

Little on bitter side. Center moist, seeds out of place. Got too much water. But its good, Siv’s thoughts speaking in my mind.

Oh, Siv you little nitpick, I reply.

I sit down besides a tree. I’m looking at the clouds when the sun suddenly breaks through it, blaring in my eyes and momentarily blinding me. I look away, colors dancing in front of my vision.

“Old Miss Sunshine, getting’ ya again,” Pa would say. Instantly, I feel a pain of guilt.

Pa. It’s been two years since he died, and life had been desolate since. The only things I have left of my past are Siv and the pendant my mother gave me when I was seven.

I caress it, fingering the engravement.

May you forever be protected by this veil of darkness, and my love for you.

Tears prick at the back of my eyes. I’ve lost both my parents.

And it’s all my fault.

*Taps fingers*

Brookeira, l'm waiting for you to post, or else l'll just go ahead. 

Sorry I haven't posted, Mom grounded me :P 

Kate~

Hungry. Food. 

Lazarus clicks hungrily on my head, sitting in a nest of my short neon green hair.

I know, Lazarus, I say. Let's hunt. 

After stalking through the forest a ways, I see a deer, a young one. Its antlers are still covered in soft velvet. Innocent, pure, beautiful. 

Less beautiful after my mandibles snap its neck. I release Lazarus, who burrows into the carcass, before crunching literally through a leg. What can I say? My mandibles are tough. 

Some would say it is horrible, to take the life of something so pure and innocent. I would say that it is the way of life. It is an endless circle of predator and prey, nothing more. I kill not out of spite, but out of hunger. I never take more than I need. Humans eat meat, too, butchering animals themselves, yet they call me a monster for killing and eating what I must. Do I not also have a right to live?

When Lazarus and I finish, the only evidence that we had killed a deer are the bloodstains in the ground. Nothing more is left, not even bones. Why waste good nutrition and leave them? Come here, Lazarus, I think. He picks it up and I place my palm on the ground. He skitters up my palm, up my arm, up my body, up my neck, before finally coming to a rest on the right side of my head, where he always rests. The familiar feel of his tiny hooks deploying and latching into my scalp make me click in pleasure. 

Ready, Lazzy? 

Yes. 

Then let's go!  

I take off through the forest, my insectoid legs finding footing among the forest carpet of leaves. The ecosystem is so wonderful and beautiful. So many animals live here. Deer run through the trees, wolves chase in packs, birds call from the canopy above, and so many insects crawl around, eating the dead plant matter and remains of the wolf kills. I can't imagine why people find them disgusting. They are quite the opposite. They're Mother Nature's cleanup crew. I hiss and click my mandibles, this time in disgust. The humans are the disgusting ones. They leave their waste anywhere, polluting the landscape. They spill their foul chemicals into the crystal lakes Mother Nature has created for us. They take more than they need and ruin what they don't use. 

Humans filthy, disgusting creatures, take what Mother Nature gives for granted, soon lay waste to all. They will destroy themselves. 

Lazarus has been listening to my thoughts and agrees with me. 

Lazarus, you understand me. 

I am loyal to host organism Kate. Kate upholds symbiotic relationship. Kate useful and kind host. 

And you are the best neuropede anyone could hope for, Lazarus. 

I am grateful for Kate's approval. 

I click in pleasure.

Of course, Lazarus. You're my best and only friend.