Wow. OK. I was just reading through some of the short stories you guys wrote about each other, and let me just say you guys are AMAZING! (I'm sure you already know that, but I love that the CB is a place where a bunch of us writers, artists, nerds, and other lovely people can just...like... UNITE under the force of one magazine. It's awesome.)

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'Kay, Novelist first, then Jaon, then Fiesty, 'kay?

Oookay. I'll probably do two of them in one post, but who knows? Maybe all at once. =)

The Novelist 

A majestic eagle soars over the Haunted Wood. It circles, its keen eyes looking for prey beneath the leafy foliage of the forest. A scream resonates from beneath the eagle. Its head cocks, then dives, nimbly avoiding branches in its descent. It dives into a small clearing with a dark, murky lake. A boy is kneeling down at the water's edge, his hand under the water. The eagle glimpses a scaley, claw-like hand pulling the boy's arm. The boy struggles, trying to get away from the water's edge and the monster in it. But he's slowly being dragged under the water. He screams. The eagle lands and for a moment its shape flickers, then in its place is a girl with dirty-blonde hair and a curved sword strapped to her back. She leaps forward with catlike agility and grabs the boy's other hand. He looks at her, confused, then screams again when a horribly fish-like face with sharp teeth rises from the water. It opens its mouth to scream a high, menacing sound. It pulls more on the boy's hand. The girl grabs the sword on her back and slices the creature's hand off. It rears back, cradling its steaming stump and screaming. Then with a flash of silvery-blue scales it dives back into the lake. The boy steps back and turns to the girl. "Wha-what are you? You defeated that gremlin easily and I saw you turn back from an eagle..." The girl re-sheathes her sword and puts out a hand to shake. "I'm a Shifter. And that Gremlin was a small one. It'll be coming back with more." The boy hesitantly shakes her hand and says; "I was wandering around at the edge of my village when something grabbed me, then I landed up in here. Believe me, I never wanted to get here. EVERYONE knows this place is full of demons." He shudders. The girl looks concerned at him. "This place isn't full of demons." The boy looks critically at the girl. "Then what is a Gremlin? An evil merm-maid?" The girl shakes her head. "No. When this forest was made, it was cursed. All those who go in here slowly become... well.... evil. The Gremlins were wandering Shifters, they stayed in a fish-form for too long in the water, and... well, you can see what happened to them. Then... well, horses in here became... you know... well.... they eat human flesh now."

The boy shudders again. 'How have you stayed yourself then?" he says, slowly backing away. The girl's pleasant face goes white. "I didn't stay in the forest. I fly above it. I rest in caves in cliffs. I eat fish that doesn't swim here." The boy looks relieved. "Now come on, we need to go somewhere safe, then I'll return you to your village." The girl flickers again and becomes a Griffon. "Climb on my back," she says, with a slightly diminished voice with the shape of a Griffin. The boy climbs on and the girl flies. High above the forest she flies, up above the suffocating trees and dark shadows. After a few minutes she lands on a weather-beaten cliff-face, and climbs into a small cave. The cave is pleasantly lit with several oil-lamps, and has a few pillows and some rugs. The girl flickers again and becomes a girl. The boy looks around. "Have a seat." The girl sits down on a small pillow as the boy lies on a rug. She asks, "So, what's it like in your village?" The boy looks down.

"It.... No one really likes me since my dad died. Everyone's just ignoring me and they... they just laugh when I ask for help to do something." An awkward silence follows. In an effort to lighten the mood the boy asks: 

"Why don't you have more furniture?" he says, feeling the threadbare carpet. "It's hard enough just to get this stuff. Most of the time I'm saving people from the monsters. Whenever I land in a village people always drive me away if they see me Flicker. They think I've gone evil like the others...." The girl trails off, looking down at the cave floor. Silence rains for a moment, then the boy asks. "Then why do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Stay here. Help people. Why don't you just walk away?" 

The girl stays silent for a moment.

"I guess.... because it wouldn't be right. The monsters would continue hurting people and.... and no one would be there to help them." The boy considers this for a second. Then he asks, "But no one's there to help you."

The girl stays silent. Then she shyly looks up and asks, "Would... would you like to stay here and rescue people with me?" The boy smiles. "Yeah. I'd like that a lot." The girl smiles at him and asks, "So, when do you wanna start training to help me rescue people?" Just then a scream echoes from the direction of the forest. The boy grins, and says, "Let's start now."

And so, a girl Shifter and a boy peasant go, with courage, swords, and a lot of cunning, they walk out of the cave to safe the world, bit by bit. 

~~~~~

Sorry no time to do more I gotta leave for soccer by! 

Hey, Chinchilla, I just saw you were doing those character blurbs for everyone who wanted one - if you're not super backed-up with requests, could you do me? It's cool if you can't. Thanks~

Okay! Marathon time!

I've been meaning to do a lot of y'all for a while, but I haven't had enough time, so I'm doing a few of you now.

Enjoy!

Cho Chang~

The dark-haired girl fingered her wand anxiously, as she stared at the huge chest-of-drawers that loomed in front of her, shaking with some unknown force, that the Defence Aganst the Dark Arts teacher had been training them on for the last hour. He had told them how the bogart would change into her worse fear, but the trick, was to imagine the thing as something silly.

Several students had already suceeded.

Why, oh why, had she not prepared for this? She could have at least fooled Prof. McGonagall into believing she was sick! She knew that this was coming, so why had she not run? 

The teacher had said something, but she paid it no mind. She was going to die, she knew, for the last time she had tried, she couldn't.

How could you make a Sith foolish?

Her thoughts were jolted back into reality, as the Professor threw back the bolts that held the wardrobe closed. The girl stood back, wand at the ready, as the thing crept out.

She would have never expected what came next.

A single black stick flitted out of the doors, lined with silver blocks. A second later, and it was alight, a block of light the color of new blood, humming a deadly mono-harmonic tune. It swung easily on it's own, making it's way toward the girl, a deadly ghost. Students gasped behind the girl, as black robes began to form, first the sleeves, then the bottom, and then the fearsome face, covered in a mask, a web of ruby lines, and jet circles.

The girl then knew that this was no bogart.

A true Sith, unlike one that she had ever seen before, was gliding toward her, and the Force pulsated, revealing and evil unlike any before. The girl watched in horror, as the lightsaber swung toward her, and before she knew it, she was, ducking, rolling, toward the frightened students, and the petrified teacher. Reaching her feet, she reaieased her left hand, and blinded him with a sheet of magic icicles. Her blood pulsing, she raised her wand, and pushed a hidden button.

"The Force may be with you," Cho said, "But I am strong with it."

Mei-xue~

The girl vibrated in her seat, clutching her book tightly, while the New York subway jolted and bumped through the ground. Her eyes, dark and alert, searched the crouded train for unknowing vandalists, babies, guys with Starbucks cups, middle school boys who lived to steal "geeky" items such as books, or dolls.

The girl couldn't let anyone touch this particular book.

As they always did when she was nervous and trying not to show it, her wings poked out from under her sweatshirt, straining at the polyester fibers that held them captive. She shoved her back against the window of the subway, an attempt to hide her secret, and another at the same time.

Her frustration was already boiling past breaking point, the girl attemped to hide lower in her seat, as some girls in bright colors gave her some odd looks as they were forced to sit next to her.

It wasn't her fault that she looked goth! The black sweatshirt and skirt were the most inconspicuous outfit she had! As if they would even care that she was on an important mission for the remaining demigods. She clutched the book tighter.

Another person bumped into her, and she gritted her teeth in agitation. Did anyone have any street sense anymore? Of course the whole world had act like the entire fate of the universe wasn't on her shoulders!

When a guy with a suitcase nearly knocked her over onto Rainbow-Girls, the girl knew that she had was done.

"ENOUGH!" Mei shouted, and watched with satisfaction as the whole world froze. Calmly, she released her wings, then walked to the front of the train, and pressed the button that opened the doors. Swinging onto the tracks, the girl set off to finish her job.