- Invitation Status
- Look for groups
- Looking for partners
- Posting Speed
- Multiple posts per day
- 1-3 posts per day
- One post per day
- 1-3 posts per week
- One post per week
- Slow As Molasses
- Online Availability
- My times are pretty erratic, but I try to avoid being on EST 11pm-9am.
- Writing Levels
- Intermediate
- Adept
- Advanced
- Adaptable
- Preferred Character Gender
- Male
- Female
- Genres
- Fantasy, Modern, Historical Romance.
"I don't know..." Some people chewed their nails when they were nervous. Ae-ra went the extra mile. She dug her teeth lightly into the tips of her fingers, dark eyes flitting back and forth. Her left hand was gripping a paper in her hand, but those wandering eyes of hers were alighting everywhere but the words on that paper. A closer look would reveal that the paper had been badly crinkled, clearly having been read over and over again. It appeared to be written in the thick, dark ink of an old calligraphy, each letter a tiny work of art in and of itself. The paper was equally telling, a clean parchment of high quality with a thin lining of gold flakes in swirling patterns. It was almost a shame how horribly crumpled she'd made it, but then neither she nor her setting really seemed to suit the letter.
Ae-ra was sitting in a hole-in-the-wall cafe, trying to adjust to her new human form. She and the other non-Zodiacs hadn't been granted human forms until this new Race had come into being, and she wasn't all that sure she liked it. She was at a table in the corner, pressed up against the wall as best she could. Her form seemed rather young, as well. She had short black hair and a fresh round face that she would have said looked more like that of a teen, rather than a demon older than most current countries. Sitting there alone, it didn't seem like she had anyone to be talking to, but she'd been having a fierce argument (for her) ever since she'd received this form with the letter.
"You should try, this time. We have done more for humanity than any of the Zodiacs." The speaker wasn't Ae-ra this time, and no one else in the room could hear it. The speaker was a large, brown, hairy spider sitting on top of the table, slightly obscured by the cold cup of coffee. It wasn't alone. A cluster of spiders were there with it, while even more others were sitting on her shoulder, building webs in the corner above her head, hanging from the bottom of the table in the shadows of the table leg.
A smaller, black spider spoke up as well. "This isn't like a race, Ae-ra!"
"It is called a race." One pointed out, but this one was a male sitting atop the abdomen of his female counterpart, and spiders didn't exactly give much weight to their males, and his comment went absolutely ignored, beyond a few baleful glares.
"The last one was an actual race, and you didn't have a chance." One said. "That's not your fault." Another added.
Ae-ra's teeth began leaving marks in her fragile, fleshy fingers. "The Rat is small like me, and she managed." The retort was a little shaky, especially since the Rat could technically swim. "The Cat would have done it, too, if Eun-Byul-ee hadn't... I really still can't believe she-"
"Ae-ra, Ae-ra. Focus." The small black spider waved one of its appendages at her. "It still wasn't worth it. It was a running around type of race, you weren't suited to it, and we've been fine even without it. It didn't matter, and it doesn't now. This one is different. This is helping. You could become a god, or at least get noticed by the Emperor." Ae-ra flushed slightly. It scared her slightly to imagine being noticed by anyone, but especially by someone like the Emperor. He must be a very great man. "Look at what you have to do? It's helping people, stopping dangerous demons. Our nature is well-suited for this. Why are you hesitating?"
The short-haired girl just shook her head. "But I don't want to become a god!" Although the girl hadn't spoken very loudly, she felt like she'd shouted it, and quickly gasped, slumping down in her chair and awkwardly peering at the rest of the humans in the cafe. She really didn't like being this big. It meant no one would try to stomp on her, she supposed, but it was still too visible for her. "I don't want to become a god." She whispered, this time, leaning down towards her spider friends. "I don't mind fighting the demons and things, but it's- it's like a competition. And if I don't really want to become a god anyways, I really don't think it would be polite to interfere this way."
There was an exasperated muttering through the spiders, and one finally shushed the rest long enough to loudly proclaim. "Don't think so deeply about it like that! You have this nice new body. Why don't you just do it to help? Forget about the others, especially those Zodiacs."
Ae-ra frowned at her more in consternation than anger. "C-can I do that?"
More exasperated muttering rattled through the crowd, even louder than before, and several of them spoke almost in unison. "Isn't it obvious?!" The brown spider clarified. "Of course you can. No one can stop you, and since you don't stand out, you won't count as competition. Just do what you want to do and help with the troubles. You think too much!"
After a slightly uncomfortable blink, a tiny glint of happiness seemed to enter her black eyes. "I guess so, huh? No one will mind if I just help out a bit, right?" The spiders agreed heartily with her, exchanging looks with each other. "O-okay! I'll do it." She said, a smile breaking out onto her face. Looked like she was joining the second Great Race, in her own little way.
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