~ Valerius Amaterasu Patrick 

I couldn’t use my ability with such open space, but I could see the dragon’s red wing tips arching over the cafeteria roof. FRENCH THE LLAMA(vlogbrothers reference) that dragon was humongous. A squawk came from above and another, smaller green dragon came along and swooped toward something at the soccer lawn, screeching. I ran over to the cafeteria dragon, with a sharp kick upward, two knives awkwardly spun out of my boot, I caught them, but they slapped my wrists hard. “This is for in case of an emergency.” Father had said. “It should be quite smooth.” He said. I glanced at my wrists, which were clearly hurt, but only formed a small bruise. I kept running. When I went through the cafeteria door, I was terrified to see the whole opposite wall torn down with rubble on the sides. Intuitively threw one of the knives at the dragon’s eye, but it quickly moved its head so it was caught on a scale in the center of the face. I looked at the kitchen and jumped through the window where the cafeteria ladies make the food. “Whatcha doin here! It is dangerous! Princess Zoe and some hunters should arrive soon…” “WHERE ARE YOUR KNIVES?” I interrupted her. She looked at me strangely and pointed at the wall where knives and pans were hung neatly on the wall. I stashed them in my pocket and took a large pan for good measure. Another cafeteria woman known as “Crazy Caren” took a bunch of pans while I was leaving the room and rushed toward the dragon shouting “FOR THE THORNS!”. The dragon looked at her and let out a thin stream of blue flames, which she blocked with a pan with incredible accuracy. The dragon let out a wider blast of red flames around him. I held my pan up, which I knew was a useless defense, but the flames never touched the ground. Crazy Caren had launched a pan in his mouth, covering the flame hole in the back of the mouth. It lasted only for a moment, the dragon swallowing the pan whole, but it was enough for the cafeteria lady to whack the dragon in the eyes. I approached cautiously and asked “How did you-“ “I was a colonel for the hunter’s guild, you ignorant dunces!” She shouted and continued her attack with various pans. “Get away while you can. I killed a manticore in my prime!” I decidedly ran away from the crazy woman, yet she seemed to keep the situation under control. Teachers were leading students away from the scene. Yet there were a lot of guys in hooded cloaks taking certain kids from the line away, some going out into the danger to take these certain kids. One of them motioned toward me to join them. I hid the knives deep in my pocket and glance at the cloaks. They each had a pin of the Hunter’s Guild symbol, yet slightly hidden under the cloak, was another pin. A symbol of what appeared to be an animal paw reaching upward in a fist-like motion. They ushered me away before I could make out more details, but these people were more than they seemed. We were all put inside a large van, and I realized these weren’t random people. They closed the van door, another one pulling up behind us to pick up more. The screen above us glowed with the symbol I saw earlier. A paw of an animal reaching up, in a fist. A video clip began to play as the symbol disappeared. “Welcome. You are all safe. This is the rebellion.” 

~~~~~

There will be more of course, but this is too long already. 

I'm back!!! Sorry, July's going to be a busy month for me.

Izzie~~~

I saw the dragon swoop down into the field, and the next thing I did was run. As I ran I could feel feathers pop out of my skin, my nose turning into a beak, my feet turn into claws, and wings come out. I take flight before the transformation is even complete. Soon I'm a spotted owl, flying close to the ground. Soon I reach the forest where I turn back into a human. I start walking quickly throuhg the woods, following my path back through the woods. At this rate I will reach the school by morning. I pause… somthing's sneaking around in the woods. I look around, carefully, somthing's stalking me. Then, from the bushes bursts out a huge lion. I scream and fall onto my back, the lion's going to punce on me! Then, the lion stops short it stares at me and shakes its head. Then, the fur starts sliding off and soon a brown haired boy with bright, glowing, golden eyes is staring at me.

"Who are you?" I stammer.

"You don't remember? Of course not… that was so long ago." He asks.

"No…why should I?" I snap, slowly getting up. 

He just stares at me and shakes his head.

"You should come with me." He says.

"Hold up! I'm not going to just go walk off with a random stranger! I don't even know you!" I growl, "I've got to get home." 

"Your home isn't safe! Don't you see? The Thorns are closing in on the Anima! Nowhere is safe." He growls.

"Well, I can take care of myself." I snap, pushing past him. 

I walk off into the woods, ignoring his staring gaze. He runs forwards and grabs my hand.

"Get your hands off me!" I yell.

"IZZIE! WOULD YOU JUST STOP AND LISTEN TO ME?!?!?" He shouts.

I pause and look at him "How do you know my name?"

"I know alot more about you than you think. Like, your real name is Elizabeth, you hate oranges, and you can crush anyone who cares to challenge you on foosball." He says, "Wait on foosball, I'm sure I'll beat you." 

"How… do you know?" I ask.

"Follow me, I'll tell you on the way." He says.

~~~~

I've got to go! More later!

Secret- I kept the meeting but changed the dialogue and details a little to how I would’ve preferred you portray my character. Avi… does not pray.

Avi~

The blond girl screamed and ducked. The boy shoved me to the side and the dragon passed just a couple inches over my head. “What was that?” he gasped.

”I think it was a dragon,” the girl said, “but that’s rather obvious.”

”I’m following it,” I said, getting to my feet. “You coming?”

”We don’t even know you!” the boy protested. “How are we supposed to trust you?”

You shouldn’t. “I’m Avi Laska. What about you?”

”Joy,” the girl said, “and that’s Kallien.”

”’Kay. Now, come on!” Kallien and Joy followed, albeit uncertaintly.

There were roars coming from the cafeteria. Avi shifted into a hummingbird and sped towards it.  “OUR KING WILL RISE UP AGAIN! THE SHADOW KING WILL RETURN!” Ohnoohnoohno.

”I have to tell the Hunters!” she blurted before realizing her mistake. Kallien and Joy flinched away from her like she’d suddenly been covered in molten lava.

”You’re working with them?!” Joy shouted. “But you’re an Anima!”

Avi put her hands up. “Look, I can explain-“

She’d forgotten the dragon. It swooped down and grabbed her up in its talons. “Whattheheckgetmeoutofhere!” Avi screamed. “Joy! Kallien!” They stared at her, not moving. Then Kallien shook his head.  Avi could feel tears running down her cheeks. They hate me, don’t they? 

Then, an arrow whizzed in and hit the dragon in the chest. It let Avi go, and she quickly shifted into a hummingbird and flew to the ground. Kallien was holding a bow. Avi grinned, feeling all the tension release. It’s all right. 

There had been another girl the dragon was holding, and she transformed in the air, features stretching to the ones of a horse. She landed on all fours and whinnied before changing back into a human girl with long brown hair. “Are you okay?” Avi said, changing back. 

“Fine,”. The girl extended her hand. “Serefina.” Avi wiped her hand on her shorts and shook. “I’m Avi.”

”Um, guys?” Joy yelled, “Dragon?”

”Oh, right,” Avi said. “Um, I’m not really a fighter… got any more arrows, Kallien?”

”A few,” he said, wiping his brow, “I don’t know if I could make that shot again, though.”

“Maybe we could-“ Serefina started, but before she could finish a woman ran in screaming bloody murder. Avi watched, mouth open, as the woman fought the dragon using only pots and pans. The awesome thing was that she was winning. 

Suddenly, a girl grabbed Joy, Kallien, and Avi’s arms and pulled them away. Another person took Serefina, and she screamed. “What the-“ Avi twisted, trying to get out. She saw with relief that the person wore a Hunters badge. This has all been really, really fun, but I’m glad the Hunters are here to sort everything out- then Avi gasped. Below the Hunter robes was another pin, an animal’s fist raised in defiance. Wait, isn’t that the symbol of the rebellion? Apparently, this wasn’t over. Things were just getting more and more crazy.

The rebels (for that’s who Avi had decided they were) pushed them all into a huge truck. She flashed between hummingbird and human, trying to get out, but the doors slammed shut. The truck started moving, and Avi was thrown back against the seat, collapsing. She pushed herself to her feet and brushed her hair out of her eyes. The pieces of string she had used to tie off her braids had fallen, and her hair had come undone. 

Then, a screen flashed to life, with the rebel’s symbol large and proud. “Welcome. You are all safe. This is the rebellion.” 

Avi didn’t know whether to feel lucky or scared. This would be awesome to tell the Hunters -it would be enough for a lifetime supply of honey- but what if the rebels found out who she was working for? And, most important, did she really want to work for the hunters anymore? She definitely did not want Joy, Kallien, and Serefina to be apprehended, unless she was misunderstanding and apprehend meant “give them cake and nectar and send them on their way”.

A girl stood up and started yelling. Avi vaguely recognized her- she was the girl who had sat leaning forward in class, drinking up every word of Princess Zoë’s lecture. “A REBELLION?! WHY do you think I would want to take place in a rebellion? And WHY are we on the side of PEOPLE KILLING DRAGONS?!" 

Avi turned to stare at her. Um, cursing the rebellion is not a good idea when you happen to be IN THEIR VAN. Another girl tapped on the glass partition that separated the driver from the kids and started talking worriedly to the driver about the crazy girl.

The audio continued. “You must be feeling scared and flustered right now-“ No duh. Who thought this was a good idea again? ”No matter what you’ve been told, we are not animals, dangers, threats to the kingdom.”

Avi was feeling exhausted. She burned energy quickly, and felt herself longing for some sugar. She reached behind her and felt her rusack still there. The hummingbird girl pulled out a jar of honey and dipped her finger in. Joy raised an eyebrow at her, and Avi shrugged. Hey, I’m a hummingbird. 

“You might not know it, but you are all Anima,”. The Hunter-loving girl fell back in shock. Avi scanned the room. All these kids are Anima? I didn’t know there was so many of us. And how do they know, when the Hunters don’t? Avi’s heartbeat, already fluttering at a faster speed than normal, sped up. This might be how the rebellion is so powerful. They can tell Anima. The Hunters can’t.

Hey guys? I think I'm going to drop out. Too much going on. Sorry! You can continue to use Anna if you want. Sorry again!

Avi~

This was proving to be the craziest road trip Avi had ever been on. (Not that she had gone on any,). There were no seatbelts, and a couple kids were animals. A badger sat on her head, tried to eat her honey, then turned back into a human and nearly killed her. The white-haired boy scrambled off apologetically. “Sorry, my animal form is a little hard to control. Why do you have honey, anyway?”

Doesn’t everyone? ” ‘S okay,” Avi replied, “and I’m a hummingbird and it’s tasty,”.

”Oh- wait, you’re that crazy girl, the one who showed up and transformed in class,”.

Avi nodded. “Guilty as charged.”

”Why did you do it?” The boy cocked his head at her, and Avi shifted nervously.

”Trying to find other Anima?” she hazarded. It was the truth- just not all of it.

The boy seemed satisfied, and Avi turned back to staring out the window. What the heck? There was a girl looking at her through it. The girl rapped on the glass quietly, then pointed to the little gap. Avi felt she knew her from somewhere, but she was too clean-looking to be a street kid, and too interesting to be easily forgettable. But it was intriguing, and the driver was distracted, so Avi turned into a hummingbird and squeezed out the tiny gap.

Avi turned back into human form on top of the car, where the girl was sitting. She was wearing the Hunter uniform, without the cloak, and Avi remembered where she knew them from.

‘You’re that girl from the alley,” Avi said, “with the lion boy,”.

”Just lion,” the Hunter replied, “and call me Moira,”.

“Oh, gosh no, not another strict Hunter person who insists on calling everyone by their animals,” Avi said, “I’m just going to die now, ‘kay?” She flopped down dramatically, hand on her neck.

A hint of a grin crept over Moira’s face. “It is protocol, hummingbird. “ Avi sat up and raised her eyebrow at her. Well, she tried. Avi’s eyebrows were not very cooperative. 

“I was here to help you arrest the Anima,” Moira explained, Oh, so that’s what apprehend means, “but apparently things have taken a slightly odd turn.”

”Tell me about it,” Avi said, flopping over again. “Um, and actually?”

”What?” Moira’s eyebrows were nicer than hers, she decided. They lifted so easily, and one at a time, too.

”I might not want to work for the Hunters anymore,” Avi told her.

”What?!” Moira yelled. “You can’t do that!”

”Why?” Avi said.

”Because then I’d have to kill you, and I don’t want to!”

Avi blinked a few times, processing, then pushed Moira off the van.

Well, almost. As the girl fell, Avi grabbed their hand. She had never killed anyone, and now didn’t seem a good place to start. The two girls stared at each other. Then the driver drove them into a tree.

***

”Aaaaah!” everyone screamed as they rammed through-no, under- it, and came out in a huge, open space. Avi ducked back in through the window- which was opened fully now- and dragged Moira with her. The cloaked people pulled the kids out of the van.

”Hello. This is the Rebellion’s base. You no doubt have been briefed by the screen, but let me restate this; you are Anima, but are not automatically in the Rebellion. This is where you choose, and are tested. We also know that there is a spy in your midst. We will find them, and kill them- you don’t have to worry. The Hunters are ruthless, and do not deserve to live. But you- you don’t deserve this persecution. You haven’t done anything wrong.” You sure about that? Avi gulped. Sounded like too many people for her liking wanted to kill her. 

~Valerius Amaterasu Patrick

I was staring at the three headed woman as she dragged one of us into the truth room one by one. Then it was my turn. 

"Are you the spy, Valerius?" she asked.

"No." I replied.

"Out. You pass." she drags me into another room. Everyone else was there, and it looked like a theater. I sat down in a seat, and the lights dimmed as the last person entered. My ability instinctively activated, and I could sense everyone and some surrounding rooms, three bodies on stage, one clearly the three headed woman. One figure seemed to be at the edge of my range in a nearby room, but it quickly disappeared the range of my ability. The stage lit up, the three headed woman on stage right, a guy with a plague doctor costume in the center, and a person stage left with a rubber horse mask on the face. 

"Welcome to the rebellion." said the plague doctor raising his arms. "You shall all be returning home by the end of this week unharmed, armed with new knowledge. I know some of you may not be willing to join our cause, which is fine, but as fellow brother and sister Anima, we feel the need to help you defend yourselves against any hunters. There are a few things I may need to clarify before I begin." he lowered his arms. "The dragon attack was not planned by us. We simply took advantage of the situation and managed to bring you into our care. Here, we will be teaching you how to control your powers. The main reason so many Anima are killed is that their powers go unchecked and untrained, which may lead to an outburst of magic in your later life, and may cause others unintentional harm. Hunters quickly identify such individuals and hunt them down no matter how well you may hide yourself. A fly anima was killed in her fly form with magic tracking technology. We will show you around soon enough, but transforming should be kept to a minimum. Please follow the man in the horse mask to your rooms." The doors opened, and the man in the horse mask stood up, and headed out the door with everyone scurrying behind. I glanced at the stage, and the plague doctor vanished from my sight and tunnel sense. I followed everyone into the bright room nextdoor.

errAvi’s main problem is her internal conflict-hunters vs. rebellion, except in her mind. As a result of her being on this line, she’s got enemies on both sides. I think even for the others, it would be similar. Instead of painting the rebellion as a safe place/training camp, let’s make some discrepancies. Introduce a Hunter being killed, and generate some sympathy for the Thorns. Make the rebellion seem off, wrong. (Secret motive, perhaps?) But then when the Anima start leaning to the Thorns, put in hate, dead Anima, and conflict/battles. The inner turmoil (and exterior action that serves to reinforce the inner drama, like a fight with the Hunters or a secret passage in the rebel’s base) should be enough for a good conflict, though I don’t know what the resolution would be.

Avi~

The woman (women?) stare at me, disdain in all six of their green eyes. Avi had seen others go through, and came up with a plan. Time to start Operation Don’t Die.

Avi took a deep breath and opened the door. “Hello hello oh you have three heads that’s weird I like nectar lilies have the best but lavender is also good it’s just lavender is so hard to get your beak into, y’know what I mean? And as a human it’s just completely hopeless,” Keep talking keep talking don’t let them ask me anything. Luckily, one of the things Avi was good at was talking, nattering on and on until everyone near her wanted to scream. “Have you ever had a stuffed animal my brother had one it was a bear which is funny because he was a bear Anima speaking of Anima did you know that my friend had a cousin named Aerron who could turn into a dragon but when I asked if I could met her she said Aerron went missing a long time ago so I don’t really believe her now because I’ve never heard of a dragon Anima before and then it was just a distraction to steal my bagel but I forgave her because then I stole it back. And-“

”STOP!” the women bellow. “You’re giving me a headache, and a lot of that isn’t true! I do not know what you mean, Aerron was your friend’s boyfriend’s sister, and your brother’s stuffed animal was a koala, which are marsupials!”

”Oh,” Avi said softly. Then she realized her mistake. “Wait, have you heard the one about the-“

But the women were staring into her eyes, taking her soul out and looking at it, and Avi couldn’t move, couldn’t breath, couldn’t make her bad joke about elephants, couldn’t get out of the room which Avi was suspecting would be the place where it all went wrong-

“Are you the spy?” the women asked, and Avi’s heart froze, but her mouth moved. This is where it’s all over,

”Yes,” Avi said.

Avi just had a second to think what have I done before the women let out a piercing whistle and suddenly she was surrounded by cloaks and arms who pushed and shoved her and Avi tried to turn but there was something on her stopping it and she’d never not been able to turn before, she was born a little shifting hummingbird baby and she had never felt so trapped in her life.

***

Avi was in a dark place, with a little light filtering through a window. It wasn’t a cell- Avi had seen cells- but the feeling was the same. Avi was an open-space type of bird. In cells, she felt claustrophobic and trapped, and like no one cared about her, and no one would listen. The last time she was in jail she’d been trying to steal medicine, needed it for a dying friend- no one would listen, just looked through their reading glasses on posh gold chains and commanded the police to shove her in. She’d spent two weeks that time, and when she came out her friend was gone. 

The Hunters helped her out, after that, showing up at juvie with glares and knives and rings of keys, and helped Avi feel safe. But the Hunters couldn’t find her here, and she doubted the rebellion would back down because of a few glares and twenty-dollar bills.

Avi looked around. She had metal handcuffs on, so tight her wrists were white, and the same thing around her ankles, except there was an extra chain on those that a rebel was holding-there were rebels surrounding her, she realized. She was on her knees, and as she struggled to get up he pulled her to standing harshly. She still couldn’t change form. ”C’mon,” he said gruffly, “we’ve got to show you.”

”Huh?” Avi asked. 

“Not everyone knows you’ve been captured yet. It’ll make them feel safer, and shake up any other Hunters in the crowd.” He tugged again, and Avi fell down, tasting blood. “Get up,” he growled, and so Avi did, tripping over her feet. He led her out onto the stage.

The rebel announced pridefully, “The spy is found!” as if he had captured a dangerous beast instead of just a fifteen-year-old girl who sort of felt like she was going to cry. The faces were varied- Joy and Kallien looked mostly betrayed, and a little sympathetic. Serefina looked all betrayed. The russet haired girl who had supported the Hunters looked aghast, and her face turned white.

”H-hey,” Avi said. “Look, I’m not the kind of person to stand proud and defiant,” Her voice broke, “So I’m just going to, um, curl up and cry for a bit, thanks, and stop looking like I killed your best friend and destroyed the world, Serefina, will you?” 

The rebel took her chain and pulled her out, then padlocked it to a railing in a back room. And then Avi did what she said she was going to do, and curled up to cry for a bit.

She only looked up when the door opened and a figure came into the room, too short to be a rebel. “Why are you here?” she asked. “Are you going to chain me up and spit in my face like everyone else?”

”No,” SJay said. “I’m here to help you get out of here.”  

____

Claaws, are you okay with that? It seems like Avi and your character are the only two who like the Hunters, so it was a sensible choice. 

IMPORTANT! Owen is 16 BTW, Izzie is 14, and July's going to be really busy which is why I haven't been posting. Sorry! 

Also, I was thinking that Owen could be like a captain in the rebellion. 

Izzie~~

"So you just want me to believe that you're my long lost brother? Are you crazy?" I ask.

"Well… when you say it like that it does sound kind of crazy. But I promise it's true," Owen says.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"We are going to the Rebellion." Owen says. 

"Right, a place were everything is perect." I groan.

Owen chioces to stay silent as we walk through the woods. Soon we reach a tunnel in the woods that leads to the Rebellion camp. 

Where did you come from where did you go?

TOP!!!!!