~Ray~

I wake up suddenly. It's night. Luna and Hazel are curled up on the grass next to me, Luna’s owl swooping around above them. I look up and gasp. The sky is painted a dark indigo, speckled with softly glowing stars like salt on a tablecloth. The clouds slowly drift away to reveal the moon, glimmering brightly. I smile to myself. We had walked for a while until we heard the scream, which we had tried to find the location of for a bit and then we gave up and slept underneath a weeping willow. The sky is getting lighter, the moon sinking behind the palace in the distance. I decide we should go check it out, just to see if it's not that bad-even though there's a perfect circle of purple clouds above it. I sit up and smooth my T-shirt, which has grass stains all over from being squished to the ground. I stand and go over to Hazel, then shake her four times VERY abruptly. She snorts and jumps up. I do the same to Luna and they take a moment to adjust, then I say, “I'm going to the palace. I think it might not be too bad. You guys should come… we should stick together.” Hazel starts to shake her head, but she stops and sighs. “Okay… I’ll come.” Luna nods in agreement and so we set off for the palace.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DONT LET THIS DIE!!!!!!

somone please post! this cannot die! please.

Okay. Here it is, NoOneKnows! Also, people who aren't posting as much, (Mahriel, Heroes, Evergreen, etc.) please do! And @NoOnKnows and @HeroesOfOlympus, maybe do a couple from The King and The Watcher? We haven't had much of those...

Luna~

Ray wants to go to the castle on the ridge. Or Ridgecastle, as I’m now going to call it. Hazel disagrees, but she’s too smart to just go off on her own. Me, I don’t know. I’m preoccupied thinking about Cyris, and his voice, and that shout… I think it was him. My point is I’m too distracted to make a smart decision right now, so I’m just going along with what they say, because they seem like smart and trustworthy people. And they haven’t made fun of me for one thing yet, and if I’m not mistaken, they’ve been teased too. 

If they went to school with kids like the ones at MY school.

I hope for their sake they hadn’t. 

“Luna? Luna… Luna-Selene!” I jumped, interrupted from my thoughts. “Wha- huh?” 

Hazel smiled faintly. She nodded her head at Ray, who was already starting to walk towards Ridgecastle, in a determined, “I-know-you-think-I’m-making-the-wrong-decision-but-I-stand-by-it,” sort of way. I nod. Hazel and I quickly catch up to Ray, AE perched on Hazel’s head. She only ever did that with Cyris… the person I’m trying so hard not to think about. 

I think he was the one who we heard. Shouting. But why? And was it just me, or did it sound like the noise had been coming from Ridgecastle? Originally, I’d been on board with going to Ridgecastle, but now? Just thinking about that shout and how it sounded like it was coming from that direction… I might not want to go anymore. But I’m probably reading too much into it.

We’ve walked silently for a while, though I keep glancing back at the weeping willow. The sun’s just finished rising, and I want to remember this scene forever. The sky is a bright, cloudless, cerulean blue, that looks somehow sinister, in this strange, beautiful world. The lone weeping willow in the background looks just like a clump of emerald green leaves, the trunk completely hidden. And it’s as though I’m seeing us from the castle: three girls, wading through a sea of rippling green grass, littered with colorful wildflowers like candy from a piñata… and the girls look like they’re… friends?

I smile. Ridgecastle looms up ahead, so this is really a bad time to be smiling, but I can’t help myself. I’ve made two new friends here, which is twice the amount I made in the other place, the one that’s been swallowed up by the vortex. And somehow, Ridgecastle is wrapped up in that.

Looking at it, it’s a huge place, all made of stone bricks, covered in ivy. There are such huge wooden doors, I’m surprised anyone can open them. There’s even a moat. It’s like something out of a fairytale- except there is that whole sci-fi theme with falling through the vortex into practically another dimension.

“What do you think’s in there?” Ray asks.

I practically jump out of my skin. We’d been silent for so long, her voice was a foreign sound to me. “Oh. I don’t know?” I say. Hazel has a theory, but it’s not one I like much. 

“I think that the person who is causing this vortex is in there,” she says darkly. I shudder.

Shaking her head thoughtfully, Ray says, “Really? I actually thought that the person who’s in there might be trying to stop the vortex. Of course, that’s just an idea, possibly a delusion…” 

I shrug. I don’t know which of them are right, but I think that Ridgecastle is wrapped up in this… somehow. I also think that shout came from this place… I shudder again. And I think it was Cyris who shouted. But that’s not especially comforting, considering that Ridgecastle is where we are going. 

“Ridgecastle?” Ray asks. “Who’s Cyris?” is what Hazel wants to know.

“I just said that out loud, didn’t I?” I sigh. “And Ridgecastle is nothing… Just my name for the palace… and Cyris was… my only friend. Back there, I mean. Well, my only human friend.” I add the last part when AE swoops down from Hazel’s head- which is rather far above mine- to peck at my arm.

After we’ve walked in silence for a little longer, I break the silence. I know right? Me, the shy one. The mouse. I, Luna-Selene, broke the silence for what might have been the first time in my life. I said:

“Is it just me, or does it seem like the castle is getting farther and farther away?” But before they can answer me, Ridgecastle speeds up. It rushes towards us, gaining speed and momentum as it comes… I can feel the wind on my face, just like before the subway pulls up and stops, waiting for you to step onto it… 

And then it stops. Five feet away, moat and all. Ridgecastle stands before us, in all its glory, and with a resounding “BANG!” the drawbridge falls open. 

We step onto it, and it creaks eerily. We continue into the dark tunnel beyond the bridge, but as soon as we set foot into the castle, something shouts. 

No. Some one. And it sounds oddly like Cyris… saying, “Luna! Leave! It’s not s- AAAUUGGHHH!!!!!!”

I freeze in my tracks, probably chalk white.  

~The Watcher!~

The Watcher paced around his room, the tiredness of all his 124 years of living caching up with him. suddnly there was a flash of movment near his puddle of water, so he turns, faster then light, and starts staring into the puddle. he sees chaos, from the human world, the vortex growing bigger, but he pulls his puddle to the castle. he sees kids, making there way towrds the castle... he sits down on his bed- more like sement slab- and sighs.

Wren~

I hear footsteps in the corridor behind me. I don’t recognize their sound and I freeze when I hear someone say “Luna, are you all right?” Luna? Who is that? I peek around the corner and see three strange girls. I don’t know where they’ve come from, if they are friend or foe, or anything else about them! All I know is that they are probably not safe here. I decide to take a chance. I step out into the corridor and face them.

            “Who are you?” I ask, looking at them accusingly. They all jump and look at me with fear flooding there faces. Finally, a tall girl steps forward.

            “I’m Hazel, who are you?” I relax a little, they seem harmless.

            “I’m Wren, you aren’t safe here, come with me and I’ll take you somewhere safer.” They share a suspicious glance.

            “How can we know if we can trust you?” This came from a girl who had a fierce determined gaze. I look her in the eye, just as determined.

            “You don’t, but you can trust me and live or die, or you can stay here and die.” Hazel nodded. 

            “Well in that case I guess we have no choice.” She turns to her companions. “This is Ray.” She points to the fierce girl. “And this is Luna.” She nodded towards a girl who was cowering in terror behind her. I nod and beckon for them to follow me, leading them carefully down the halls to my room.

nice, everyone, thanks for continuing this! 

i am SO sorry i havent been posting. Im rather preoccupied with my solo write, which is nearing the end, sadly. I will try and get a part for Hazel in soon, but for now ill do one as the King...

~The King~

The King paced his private chambers, glancing over at the door to his office every once and a while. He sighed, then straightened his back. Ah, he had guests! He must not be a tired old (OLD) man while one of the most well-known families came to see him and his magnificent castle. He smacked a button on the wall that turned the 'peaceful' water dragons in the moat into ruthless killing machines. He then swirled a rich purple cloak over his shoulders and settled his magnificent crown on his head. Adjusting his gloves, he marched out of the doorway, down the sweeping staircase and into the entry hall where a family in elegant clothes was waiting for him. 
"Ah, hello! Welcome to my castle." he said, bowing. The family each bowed back.
"Ahem, I need a servant in here! Please serve dinner, kitchen staff." He called into the hole in the wall that served as a radio. Seconds later a flushed girl scurried out into the hall, wiping a rag across the stone floor. 
"Right this way, guests, the kitchen has prepared a wonderful meal..." he glanced back at the staircase leading to his office... his office, where the jewel was. He had to get away sometime during dinner and go strengthhen the vortex. For now, though, he would just be King.

-=-

:) :) :) :)  

AAAAAARGH I WASN’T POSTING WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA— 

~Vortex~

Vortex floated silently into the room of the “guests”. Well, he liked to think of them as strangers. See, I knew there were people outside, he thought, with a flash of annoyance at Wren. I mean, then again, maybe I can get them to help me.

He turned on his manipulation and walked forward. “Hello, folks,” he said, giving them a cartoonish smile.

They all turned around, startled. One of them had an owl on her head, which was strange. “What are you?” she asked; her eyes took in his large carmine wings, his pade tail, his cat ears, his weird black eyes with dual-colored X pupils...

It was kinda awesome to see someone so afraid of him.

Vortex flipped his hair back, still smiling. “Ah, just a servant,” he wriggled around her question. She still looked him up and down suspiciously. “My name is Vortex.”

There was a shocked pause. He knew what they were all thinking, and it was confirmed when a girl with black-and-gold hair said, “...Are you the one who created the Vortex?”

There it is. “Nope,” he said, shrugging. “That’s just my name. The King’s the one who’s responsible for that.”

Now, while they were all looking at him. Time to apply his question.

Vortex put his hands together. “So the Vortex is ravaging your world,” he said slyly. “I have a plan to do something about it...”

Someone posttttttt!!! I'm working on one myself, but, WE CANNOT LET THIS DIE!!! Live, RP! LIVE! LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVVVVVVVVVE!!!!

now I'm gettin' carried away, sorry…

TOP!!!!!!TOP!!!!!!TOP!!!!!!TOP!!!!!!TOP!!!!!!TOP!!!!!!TOP!!!!!!TOP!!!!!!TOP!!!!!!TOP!!!TOP!!!!!!TOP!!!!!!