Dinotopia Solo Write

Here is the link to a solo write I'm doing, please join! 

http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/inkwell/node/441356

“Well, I guess we should introduce ourselves” Clay said, glancing around the at his friends. “This is Julia, Alder, Aiken, Corliss, and I’m Clay.” He pointed to each in turn and then looked at her. “What’s your name?” She paused for a second, as if contemplating whether or not to answer, but then looked Clay in the eye.

“My name is Maida” she said it slowly, as if savoring it. Then nodded abruptly. “Yes, my name Maida, is there anything else your going to ask me? You might as well get it over with.”

“Well, I was wondering what you were doing alone the woods, did the raiders attack your family too?” Julia asked. Maida shrugged.

“I don’t know, I can’t remember my family. I grew up as a servant to the raiders, that’s how I got this scar.” She motioned to the scar on her cheek. “They beat me if I did something wrong. I ran away, and I’ve been wandering in the woods for five days, then today that wolf attacked me, that’s all I know, I don’t even know how old I am, I’m fourteen or fifteen, but I don’t know which.” She said this all in a rush, as if she had been waiting to tell someone her entire life. 

No one spoke for a while; they were still taking in everything she had said. Julia felt mad at first, this girl was with the people who had taken her family, what if she was even there that day! But her feelings soon turned to pity, Maida was no friend of the raiders, they had even beaten her, she hadn’t had an easy life, and it wasn’t her fault that Julia’s parents were gone. Everyone else was feeling much the same, and Corliss tried to give her a hug, but Maida pulled away, shaking her head.

“I don’t need your pity” she said, her face hardening into an unreadable mask. There was an awkward silence then Aiken suggested that they let Maida rest and go for a swim in the river. Everyone agreed and Maida was shown inside the cave where she laid down in the bedroom and immediately fell asleep. They went to the river and spent the whole afternoon there. When they came back Maida was awake and sitting outside waiting for them. 

I can‘t wait to find out Maida’s full history. 

They ate a silent dinner and went to bed. Early the next morning Alder got up and headed out to check the rabbit trap. He went silently into the woods, slipping between the trees. When he came to the trap, he stopped short. The wolf from the other day was lying there, its front leg caught in the trap. It had clearly struggled but had lost so much blood that it was too weak to escape. It looked at him with sad eyes and whimpered softly. He knelt next to it, and carefully cut the cord around its leg. The wolf tried to stagger to its feet but failed, collapsing on the ground, whimpering. Aiken stood and went to the river, tearing a piece of cloth from his shirt and dipping it in the water. He carried it back and slowly cleaned the wolfs wound pulling out the broken shaft of the arrow, then bound it. The wolf didn’t struggle, but just lay there panting. 

Aiken went back to the cave to tell the others and found them up and about. He was just starting to tell them what he had found when he noticed that they were staring just behind him with terror in their eyes. He whirled around to find the wolf had limped after him, and now sat watching them from the edge of the forest. Alder turned back to them.

“Don’t be afraid, he is to weak to hurt anyone, I found him in my trap and cleaned his wound.” He turned to Julia. “Do we have any venison?” Julia nodded and grabbed a hunk of it, which had been drying in the sun. She gave it to Alder who carried it over to the wolf, setting it on the ground a few feet away from him, then backed away. The wolf limped forward and sniffed the meat cautiously, then ate it in five large bites. It limped back into the woods and disappeared.

This went on for about a week. The wolf coming daily to get his meat, and Maida helping Alder fish. She was quite good at it and she was starting to become less hostile. She still avoided questions about her past, but she talked more, and even smiled once.

The Wolf was growing stronger and staying around for longer periods of time after he was fed, until one day he just didn’t leave at all. By then everyone was used to him, so no one minded. He had even brought them a squirrel once, as if he was trying to apologize for attacking Maida. They had cooked the squirrel and given it to him, but he wouldn’t eat it, and kept pushing it towards them, so they eventually ate it. Despite Alder being the one who had saved him, the wolf seemed especially fond of Aiken. He would follow him around, and even hunt with him, helping find the deer that Aiken shot. They decided he needed a name so after much deliberation they settled on Argos, the name of Odysseus’s dog in Greek mythology. 

Life settled back into a sort of routine. With the deer skins Julia and Corliss were able to make everyone another set of clothes, Maida and Aiken had become fast friends, and Julia and Alder blushed whenever they made eye contact. But now, as things were settling down and Maida felt more comfortable, more of her mischievous side came out, and she found a willing sidekick in all things prank related in Aiken.

One day, while Aiken and Maida were walking by the river to gather reeds for a fishing net Alder planned to make, Maida turned to Aiken and said, 

“You know, I have an idea for something that would be really funny.” Aiken raised an eyebrow. 

“Oh yeah? What is it?” Maida grabbed a reed and stuck it in the water. She placed her thumb over the top of the reed and pulled it out. When she released her thumb, water poured out of the other end of the reed. 

“See how the water stays in until you lift your thumb? What if we filled all these reeds with water and kept our hands over them until we got back to Alder, then we take our hands off and dump the water on him.” She said with a twinkle in her eye. A mischievous grin spread across Aiken’s face, and he nodded. They carried out the plan flawlessly, drenching Alder and then laughing so hard they could barely breathe at the look on his face.

That was just the start though, there were many more pranks to come. But at least one of the newcomers was helpful. Argos turned out to be an excellent hunter, and they had enough meat to start saving some for the looming threat of winter. There was a chill in the air already, and trees were losing their leaves. Everyone was worried about the onset of winter, but with extra meat and warm fur blankets their fears were abated. 

One evening, late in fall, they were sitting around the fire roasting venison.

“So, I’ve been thinking, and I feel like in winter we will be spending a lot more time in the cave. I think we need to make it more comfortable and home like.” Clay said, taking a bite of his meat. 

Julia nodded. “I have an idea for a canopy of deer skins that we can drape over the bushes to keep snow out of our home. And we could make a door out of skins too.”

Alder smiled “good idea, we could cut a hole in the skins and make a fire inside, that way we could stay warm and the smoke would go out.”

“And we could turn those two empty rooms into something.” Maida said, scratching Argos’s head. Everyone was excited about these ideas, and they decided to start the next morning. Julia could hardly sleep that night, thinking. About how beautiful everything would look when they were done. When she did sleep she dreamt of a real home, her home. In the corner was her mum, teaching Betsy how to sew, her da was talking with John about farming, and everything was so perfectly comfortable. She woke with tears in her eyes in the morning.

I have a bad feeling about the pranks.  Though I could be wrong.

I am sooo sorry I didn't post for so long, like I have said this is a super busy time for me, but that doesn't excuse the fact that I have neglected this thread, please forgive me. 

Everyone got to work right away, Corliss and Julia sewed, Alder dug a fire pit in the main chamber of the cave, Aiken and Maida gathered fuel to save up for winter, and Clay turned one of the spare rooms into a larder. It was a productive day, and by the time they were done, and the sun was setting, the roof of skins was finished, they had enough wood inside to last them a month, and the dirt shelves that were carved out of the walls of the larder were stocked with dried food.

It was a good thing to, because that night was a cold one. When they woke up the world was frosted over and the smell of winter was on the breeze. It would still be a while till winter hit with its full fury, but it was good to be prepared. Last minute projects where finished up the next morning, and then everyone met for lunch. 

“So, what should we do with the other empty room?” Maida asked, taking a big bite of her fish. Aiken snuck Argos a piece of his meat and shrugged.

“I think we should turn it into a room for Argos, but that’s just an idea.” He said, ignoring Corliss’s frown as he gave Argos some more meat. This idea was agreed upon and they set to work gathering pine branches and reeds to provide bedding. Argos sniffed his new room for a while, then settled down contentedly for a nap. It seemed like everything was figured out, but they got a surprise that night. 

Argos climbed into his bed and laid down, watching the children crawl into their bedroom. But as soon as they had all lain down Aiken felt Argos lay down next to him, taking his usual spot. Aiken got up and led him back to his room, but Argos followed him right back to the main bedroom as soon as Aiken turned his back. Argos had grown quite close to Aiken in the past months, and it seemed he would not tolerate being separated from him. So, it was decided that Aiken would sleep with Argos in his new bedroom. No one minded, since the main bedroom was quite full anyways, and now there was a little more leg room.