The Final Challenge for AAWC

Hi everyone!:)

This is the final AAWC challenge! *sigh* That's so sad...:(

I used the prompt word "Invisible", our team mascot, and a plot twist!:D

I always felt invisible in my family. In my home. In my world. This was the story of how I thought I was going to become visible for the first time in my life.

I stared down at my dinner plate, my fork brushing away my vegetables. My sister, Amanda, chattered on to our parents about what happened at school today, but I wasn't listening. Her life was so full of the spotlight; lights, camera, action. My life paled in comparison. She even got all of the attention from our parents. I tried not to think about it, but the fact that she was adopted and I was actually born into the family felt strange to me. As if the roles should switch.

Not that I would ever want her not to get any attention! I loved Amanda. I just wanted attention, too. Dinner ended and I sighed, standing up.

“Hey, Lizzie! I am going to Jane's sleepover tomorrow, wanna come?” Amanda asked me before I could slip away. I shook my head.

“Not really.”

It was only a pity invite, I wouldn't want to go anyway.

I dashed to my room, eagerly seeking solitude. I opened my window and the dry breeze swept through the room, casting the curtains into chaos. I breathed in until my lungs burned. My mind cleared and my sight was sharpened as I stared out at the yard. A sharp wind stung at my face, an oddly bitter wind. A large white form fell from the dark sky and I gasped, backing away from my window. The form was a horse, a Pegasus to be exact. Its white wings spread out as it trotted toward my window. I stared out at it, my mind in shock and my eyes bugging out.

“What are you?” I whispered, but my voice had gone.

“Are you the daughter of the Formen's?” the Pegasus asked and I stared blankly at it. I nodded my head.

“You must come with me!” the Pegasus demanded.

“Why?” I finally croaked. My mind was in denial. This couldn't be happening to me.

“Our world...it's in mortal peril! The prophecy said that you, Daughter of Formen's, would save us, and that day is now. I'm here to take you to our world,” she said.

“Save you?” I laughed. This was crazy. “I couldn't save you if I wanted! I don't even know you-” I paused, my mind hurting, “what?” I whispered to myself, bewildered. This was the weirdest thing in my life. How was a Pegasus here in my backyard?
“You're the savior! It's in the prophecy! You must live out your destiny! If you must know me to feel comfortable, then my name is Athena. I was sent here by the Queen of Pegasi to take you away from here and save us all! Don't you want to help?”

“Hold your horses! This is happening way too fast! I can't believe you, whoever you are, would come into my backyard and tell me to come with you! What about my family? What about my life? I couldn't care less about your world!” I shouted. I opened my mouth to call for my parents when Athena neighed.

“Wait! No! Please don't call for your parents. I'm sorry for springing this onto you...I'm new. Let me rephrase. If you don't help us, then it could destroy your world, too,” she explained, her voice strained as she pronounced every word slowly.

“How?”

“We do not have our rightful ruler on the throne. We were biding our time to come retrieve you from this world we had to station you in, but now that a new ruler has seized the throne, he will come after you and try to kill you. You need to come with me and get to the magical scepter to reclaim your throne! If he comes to kill you, he will wipe out this world with you!”

“I don't believe you!” I yelled. There was no way my world was in danger. Her words sunk in deeper. “Station me in?”

“Yes. We had to keep you here for reasons I can't tell you about yet. But believe me when I say that you are capable. You are our savior! You were born to be the ruler of our world, not just another peasant of this one. Haven't you felt your true calling pulling at you all of this time?” Athena said. I nodded. I had felt that pull to a more important life.

“If I really am your savior, then I will come and I will help you. I have felt the calling all of this time to find my real place.”
“You were never born for this world. Ever.”
I knew she was right. I had never felt that this place was home ever since Amanda got here all of those years ago. I climbed onto Athena's back and she tore through the sky, until my vision turned black from such fast speeds and my body felt like it was being ripped through the fabric of time and space.

I woke up to soft licking against my cheek. I jumped up to see Athena and a dozen other Pegasi around me.

“What just happened?” I asked, breathless.

“We traveled, um, unlike you've experienced before. We go so fast we go to another world. It's hard to explain,” Athena answered. I rubbed my head as the fog cleared.

“Where are we?”

“In my, I mean, our, world. Your true world,” she said and I gazed at the castle courtyard around me. Tall crystal and sapphire spires twisted up to the castle roof, which was slick with diamonds. The walls and floors held intricate crests and etchings that added to the detail and splendor. I was shocked.

“This is my home?”

Athena nickered, laughing. “No! This is the Castle of the Pegasi! Your castle is much more immaculate than this.”
I gawked. How could something be better than this? Yet I somehow felt like this was a place for me.

“What are we doing?”

“We are going in to see the Queen of Pegasi where she will run a DNA scan and make sure that I didn't get the wrong girl.” Athena laughed. “But I know we didn't. You're our savior, I can tell.”
I beamed. She was right. This was my world. It all made sense, my constant struggle to fit in on Earth. It was because I never belonged there. We entered the throne room and a lavender Pegasus with white luscious curls stood in front of me. A crown of sapphires and diamonds ordained her head. She was beautiful.

I bowed at the sight of her.

“Rise, savior,” she told me and I rose, hesitant to meet her amber eyes. The word savior still sent happy shivers up my spine.
“You are Formen's daughter, yes?” she said. I nodded.

“I am Elizabeth, Lizzie for short.”
“Elizabeth, we are going to run some very short tests on you to make positive we have the right girl. It's only a formality though, so don't be worried. You are the savior, we Pegasi can sense these things. You smell like her.”

I grinned. Athena took me into a back room and a Pegasus scanned my arm with a sensor. I was expecting needles and a blood draw, but these Pegasi had different methods. The chip flashed green and the doctor Pegasi took the sensor out of the room. I followed.

“Your Majesty.” The Pegasus laid the instrument in front of the queen and she stared at it.

“But-I see...” The queen faced me, her eyes worried. “Elizabeth, unfortunately, we have brought you here in error. This is not your world and has never been. The girl who is our savior is under the name Amanda Formen, I am sorry. Your presence is no longer needed.”

My body felt like lead. There was no way she was saying what she was saying.

“NO!” I shrieked. “She can't have this, too! This was mine! This should have all been mine! She always gets whatever she wants!” My knees buckled and I crumbled to the stained glass floor, sobbing. I thought I was important. I thought I was visible for the first time. The queen brought out a purple vial and Athena poured the liquid into my mouth. I gagged as I choked on it, but it went down my throat and my mind fuzzed over immediately. Sharp, electric zaps punctured my mind as I felt this world being ripped away from me. They were taking my memories.

“No!” I screamed, jumping up. I panted as I stared at my room around me. Everything was normal. “Just a bad dream,” I murmured to myself and got out of my bed. It was time to continue my invisible life.

***

I hope you enjoyed the story!:) GO TEAM PEGASUS!

-Emma-



The Pegasi's Plague - #6 Story for AAWC

Hi everyone! I am here with the sixth story for AAWC! The prompt this time around was "Smile" and I used it in my story.:) I also have a Pegasus as a character.:)

I walked through the woods, my mind wandering and thinking about all that I could. No one at the castle understood my philosophical approach to life, but I couldn't help but wonder about deep things. My companion, Azara, a Pegasus, trotted next to me, her neck dipped to the ground.

"Have you heard about the war, Azara?" I asked, my tone low as I brushed my hand on her shoulder.

Her ears pricked up and her midnight blue eyes, filled with what looked like a galaxy, gazed up at me.

Yes.

Pegasus couldn't speak, but my people had learned their language. It was all in what their eyes said.

"The King declared it this morning," I said, staring down at the forest floor. "What do you think this will mean?"

Death. War. Things unseen. Possible destruction.

"Yes, but what deeper still? How will this affect the people? How will they cope when they see their fathers, brothers, and sons leaving to die?" I questioned. I didn't want my people to suffer. "I worry about their futures. About our future as a people and kingdom."

Azara nodded her head. The future is unsure. But worrying about it will not alter it. You will always have me through tough times and times of rejoicing though.

"Of course!" I cried as I looked down at my friend. She always supported my philosophical ideas and was a good balance, bringing me back to reality when I went too far into worry. She was solemn and firm, the perfect companion for me.

"Thank you," I whispered to her. She nodded again.

When we got back to the castle, everyone was racing around frantically. I bolted to the throne room where the King was pacing in front of his throne, advisers at his side.

"What's going on?" I asked, pounding toward him. "Father, what's wrong?"

He looked at me with angry eyes.

"They are already attacking us. They have people from their land coming here and poisoning all of our animals. If we don't have our loyal Pegasi by our sides, then this battle may as well be finished now."

"What?" I gasped. "Have you closed the borders?"

He nodded. "And I have added extra guard. No one will get in, but half of our Pegasi are already gone."

"No." I sighed. Half of the Pegasi. "We need to weed out the people that have already crossed the border."

"We already have, yet the Pegasi are still falling like flies. The stables are under lock down, yet somehow they're still dying!"

"What do we do?" I asked, feeling my heart rate increase. 

"We do not know what else to do."

I twirled a piece of my hair into a twist, then let it out. With a hopeless sigh, I replied.

"I know you will do what you can." I bowed quickly and hurried out to the stables. I had to see this with my own eyes. 

I pulled open the stable doors after passing multiple fleets of guards and saw most of the Pegasi dead. I gasped, my eyes filling. The Pegasi were loyal creatures that everyone respected and here they lay, 

I crouched down to one of the dying Pegasi and looked into its black eye, the galaxy in it faded. It shuddered as its last breath was taken and I read the single word in its eyes.

Help.

I rubbed my hand across its unmoving side and closed my eyes.

"I'm so sorry."

I had seen enough. This wasn't just food poisoning. Someone had unleashed a plague upon our Pegasi. I got up and walked out to the guards.

"Where is Azara? She was not with the others."

They looked to one another.

"She is in a separate stable. We hoped that she would not get poisoned either. She's under more protection than any others."

I nodded. "I want to take her away so she doesn't catch this plague."

"Plague?" they asked.

"Yes. It's a plague, that's why it's spreading."

"Oh," they trailed off. "The thing is, Your Highness, is that while you were gone, she seems to have caught it regardless."

"What?" I shouted. "Where is the stable?" I demanded. They pointed to the westward stable and I flew to it. I broke open the door and saw Azara lying still on a bed of hay.

"Azara!" I cried, but my voice broke. I crumbled to her side and looked into her eyes, the galaxy there beginning to fade, but she still breathed.

"Azara..." I whispered, touching her soft gray muzzle. "You promised you would stay with me." I mumbled. I felt a heavy weight on my chest.

I'm sorry. I have failed you.

"No! I have failed you. I should have done something differently."

The war has just begun, and I need you to be strong without me.

"I need you though," I said, tears wetting my face. She nickered a laugh.

You have never needed me.

I stared at her blurry face. "Don't go. Please. I love you."

Her Galaxy faded even more.

I must. Please, I need to know that you will be okay without me.

I swallowed, shaking my head.

I need to know. Eileen.

I closed my eyes. She only called me by my name if things were serious. Mustering my strength, I nodded my head.

"I'll be okay," I choked out. A smile touched her horse lips.

I love you, too.

With the same smile, she was gone, her life ended as a war began.

***

I'm terrible!!! Why do I keep making sad stories where people die or fade out of existence??XD I even was planning on making this a happy story, but I guess my default is I'm gonna kill as many characters as I can.XD

I hope you liked it though, I had fun making it!;)

-Emma-

The Bright Light - #4 Story for AAWC

Hi everyone!:)

I am here with my fourth entry for Misty's writing challenge! I included our team mascot, the Pegasus and the word 'bright'!:)

The sound of everything ending. The end drew closer with chaotic screams, the sound of fire crackling closer to the town, the flood waters washing through the town, taking anything and everything it wanted. I couldn't believe my eyes. How could everything have ended so quickly? I knew that She was behind it, I knew She wanted me to suffer, to take the guilt of everything She had done. I knew that's what She wanted, and I was beginning to feel it. The guilt quenched my soul and any fire in my blood was put out as the icy water ran underneath me. I was in shock at the devastation around me, the amount of hatred burning inside Her that She must have used to do such a horrible thing as to destroy Her town. The town that had made Her.

My town. Her town.

A tiny light at the edge of the town caught my attention. It was small and dim, but when I stared at it in confusion it swelled until it was a bright beacon grabbing at me. My town was ruined, I knew that. I had to help, but the light was drawing me away from the destruction and before I knew what was happening, I was walking toward it, across rushing floods, through the burning fire that swallowed the other side of the town. I came to the light unburned. It was a bright ball of a spot light and as I reached out to touch it, it began to move. I gasped. I had to follow it. I had to touch it. All of my senses were taken over as I left the ruins of my town, as the screams faded and were replaced by the light.

The light.

I traveled through the plains that surrounded the town, my eyes transfixed upon the beacon. I crossed through a tall field of grass where the town Pegasi grazed. They didn't seem to care that I passed by, but I didn't even notice them. I started to run as the light sped away faster and faster. I was sprinting by the time I began to realize where I was and felt the hold on my mind weaken. I stopped running, my boots scratching to a halt on the gray stone ground. I looked all around myself at the canyon I was in. I had never seen it before. I noticed a cave planted inside the canyon walls and that's when I saw that the light I had followed was shining from inside there. I climbed to the cave, curiosity leading me farther into the cave and farther until I heard whispering. It echoed around the cave and I heard the rustling of fabric on the stone ground. The tapping of footsteps. I suddenly knew what had happened. The light was one of Her tricks to get me here. It was an illusion, a mind trick. I turned around to face Her. She pulled herself out from behind a clump of columns growing from the ground, connecting to the ceiling of the cave.

I pressed myself to the cave wall as I took Her in again. She was so changed. Her once warm brown eyes were dark and cold and unrecognizable. The bright, hopeful girl I had known disappeared and replaced with a revengeful monster of a woman.

“Felicia,” She said, her tone a whispering echo.

I opened my mouth to reply, wanting so much to have changed the past. I strained my rusty vocal chords as I forced my mouth to acknowledge her. To say the word I most didn't want to, to fight the urge to run like I had for the past two years. But I couldn't anymore, I had to face her. There wasn't any other option. I opened my mouth again.

“Sister...”

***

I hope you liked the story, it's not one of my favorites, but not awesome writing is better than no writing!:D

-Emma-



A Broken Princess - #3 Story for AAWC

Hi everyone!:)

This week, the prompt for our stories is "Broken", I incorporated it, and I also used my team mascot as a character!:)

Amber careened to the stables, knowing it was her only way of escape, even if it didn't last. She ripped one of the stable doors open and encouraged the stallion to escape with her. He galloped out and Amber's panic subsided as she took him in.

“My, my,” she whispered, smiling. She let her gaze run over the stallion's gray-white wings, his broad chest, his indigo colored eyes that reminded her of a stormy sea. He was a Pegasus and he was hers.

She pulled herself onto the stallion's back before he pushed off into the sky. Amber's insides lightened as they climbed into the smoke smothered sky. While they made it farther above the smoke, she thought of what to tell her precious Pegasus, her mind racing with everything that had happened within such a small amount of time. But once they reached the clear sky, she didn't think anymore, the tears threatening in her eyes the whole way up forgotten. It was so beautiful, she couldn't even imagine the turmoil happening in her kingdom. She breathed in, letting the peace wash over her until she was numb. She almost felt like falling asleep, but she knew she had to face her torn kingdom. Just that morning a foreign king had waltzed in with an enormous army, wiping away her kind, small kingdom full of peaceful men and women. It made her sick when she had watched her father submit to the siege, although there was no other choice but to give in to the surprise attack. They hadn't even known that there was a threat until they heard the gun shots and screaming. Amber felt the tears creep up her throat and into her eyes again as she thought about her beautiful kingdom, broken and alone.

“Take me through the smoke, so I can look at my kingdom one last time,” she whispered into the Pegasus' ear and he nickered worriedly.

“I have to go back, even if that means-” her voice broke and he stared back at her, his blue eyes boring into her soul. “I'm a princess. I have a duty to stay for my people.”
But you could just run away. I could take you away. The Pegasus said through his eyes.

“No,” Amber said, choking on the word as her throat closed. “I have to stay.”

The Pegasus' head turned to face the kingdom below them. He angled himself to go into the thick smoke and they traveled through it, as Amber had directed him to. The terrified subjects cowered below them in the dark while soldiers stomped by. They didn't see the broken princess flying over them, her tears falling to the blackened ground.

***

Well....

*sniff*

That was pretty sad.:( Thanks for reading! I hope you liked the story, feedback is always welcome!:)

-Emma-