The Ivilan Quest

[pinkycrystal]

"I volunteer!" yells a voice. Everybody turns to look at a girl around my age, with a determined expression on her face. Her appearance was pale yet stern. She looked like one of the richer people of Merolia.

"I volunteer as well!" another voice announces. This time, it was a girl but looking much less posh and fancy.

Two people have volunteered for the quest already. A quest to find Ivilan, the land of the Light. My mother and father both hold me close, as if telling me not to. After all, they know if we never find Ivilan we'll never see each other again. My curious nature gets the better of me as I think of everything I'd ever dreamed since early childhood. Ivilan, the land above.

"I volunteer as well!" I shout confidently. And I do not regret it.

[Evelyn]

"Well, well. What do we have here?"
In that moment, I hated him more than anything. For taking away everything, or rather, making me do so. As I thought that, I heard someone else's voice call out, "I volunteer as well!" Was it a voluntary movement though, or had she been as aggravated as I had been, half-forced into doing it? I didn't even know.
"I'm Melissa Blackthorne. Mark my words, you shall die alone, and I shall strike your final blow. You are evil. Evil!" I said, unaware of what impact my words would have on him.

[Little Comet]

"I volunteer." Bliss's unmistakable voice rings through the crowd. She was up near the front, no way I could make eye contact with her or anything. As other people started to follow Bliss' lead and "I volunteers" ran out through the crowd, I pushed through the crowd towards Bliss. "Bliss!" I whispered, grabbing her sleeve. She was crying. Bliss stepped forward and was yelling something at the guy. His face was turning many shades of the rainbow with anger. He looked like he was about to jump off the stage and wrestle Bliss to the ground and murder her when another voice called out, "Sorry if this is a bad time but I volunteer too." The guy returned to his normal complexion and calmed down. "Very well, then." He says, looking at me. Why was he looking at me? I suddenly realize that that was my voice. I had VOLUNTEERED? What was I THINKING? I looked up at Bliss who was looking at me strangely. I smiled weakly at her. To volunteer was my best option since Bliss had volunteered herself. I was only 12, after all, and even if I was Bliss' age, I probably would be too lazy and stupid to take care of myself. It was either die fighting for Ivilan, or die of thirst and pure sticky-ness. I liked the first option better.

[Yingy]

Hi guys sorry about the really late entry but I wanted to join and everything so I did. Just check the entries thread (fat smiley face)
I crept into the alleyway again, maybe not so glad for the privacy, and sighed (someone said that there was going to be quite a lot of sighing and stuff you know...). Of course this would be the day for a meeting. Ignoring the rubbish floating around, which was normal for this alleyway, of course. I'd already lived there for ages but I had a feeling that this meeting would change my life. Oh, how right I was. I changed into my only other pair of clothes - a weird brown jacket with a dark green dress. It didn't look nice, but then again I really hated dresses so of course it wouldn't look nice for me. When I got there, in the middle of someone's speech, I only half-heard most of it. But then, someone in the crowd shouted 'I volunteer!'. What the heck...that was weird. Whoever said that must have been even dumber than I was. But then someone else, too, did it. Then another. I could see the first volunteer talking to some weird guy, the guy that had made the speech. But then, without even realizing, I suddenly shouted, "I volunteer!" as well.
It was probably because my life was so horrible and it couldn't get any worse that I bothered to.

[Evelyn]

Leo? Of all people I expected to volunteer...
I gave him a kind of half-smile and looked away. Was a supposed to be pleased or not? If not, what was I meant to feel? One other person volunteered, probably one of the girls that lived on the street. Looked enough like it. I analyzed her position. She looked scared, a little, but also a bit clueless. Probably only good with action situations...if that. All of a sudden, I didn't feel as confident as I did before.
I felt like what I was.
A fifteen year old girl that had volunteered on an impossible mission.
A tear dripped from my eye, and I didn't hasten to wipe it away. What would be the point?

[Little Comet]

Bliss looked back at me and smiled. I couldn't really tell if she was pleased with my sacrifice or not. I looked at my feet and traced circles in the dirt road. I wondered if me and Bliss would come back alive from the quest. More likely, I would die some very stupid death like being eaten alive by bees while Bliss saved the world from darkness and led the quest to victory.
Completely contradictory to what I was saying, Bliss suddenly paled and looked really scared. A lone tear trickled down her face.
Bliss was crying? The strong Bliss that would probably lead the whole quest to victory?
We can't have any of that now can we?
I wrapped my arms around her waist and hugged her, half expecting her to shove me off.

[Evelyn]

So maybe I didn't hate Leo as much as I thought I did. Just maybe.
Someone was coming over, and it didn't look like a good sign. The shortest route would probably to run through the hall and hope that there was a back door of some kind. They were catching up to where we were standing, but not overly fast. I wasn't a runner, but I could probably make this one. I shook Leo off, and sprinted in that direction. I wouldn't be able to get anything to support us during this journey, but at least we could escape and take our chances.

[Misha]

A few more people volunteered which calmed me down slightly. At least I won't be alone in this. I felt Father's hand rest on my shoulder and Mother's arm wrap around my waist which made me feel bad. I didn't think, I was too hasty but it was done. "I'm sorry" I whispered as a tear trickled down my face. I regret volunteering but at the same time I don't. I want to go on this journey but I don't want to leave my parents behind.

"It's ok Kandi." Mother murmured in my hair. "Stay safe and make us proud." I nodded slightly as I wiped away my tear.

[pinkycrystal]

After the meeting, my parents were very upset and I had to ask myself, did I make the right choice? What if there is no Ivilan and we all die? What if we're the only ones who will survive this and nobody else? Would we be alone?

Suddenly, my parents both embrace me, and cry with me. They don't have any faith in me, I thought. I expected them to congratulate me for volunteering and finally able to follow my childhood daydreams but here they are, crying their eyes out. I admit I am crying too, but probably for a different reason because I find myself giving them a rueful smile, telling them it's alright, and I will be back.

'Alright, but stay safe', my father tells me.

'Make the country proud and follow that ambition', my mother adds, drying her tears.

I will make the country proud alright. I will.

[Little Comet]

Bliss does shake me off, but for a different reason. She runs off in a different direction toward someone approaching us. I looked back up at the podium. The guy Bliss had been screaming at had made a quick escape and was no longer in sight anywhere.

Without Bliss next to me, I felt like a deer in headlights. Everyone else had a parents comforting them. I slumped onto the ground, tracing circles in the sand like I always did when I stood in this spot. I wondered if I'd ever see this place again. I didn't want to die. I really, really didn't want to die.

Be a man, Leo.