#🪶 • open starter | there’s a story at the bottom of this bottle and i’m the pen •

[withinkandquill]

Open Starter // Cardan Greenbriar // @ all mutuals

“Well, aren’t you a pretty little thing…”

[withinkandquill]

Open Starter // Anya Calwyn // @all mutuals

Pulling a knife from her pocket, Anya presses it against the other’s throat, effectively pinning them against the wall with a speed and accuracy other fourteen year old girls couldn’t access. Her gaze shifts between theirs and the small bag that held everything she’d ever owned, a bag she thought she had hidden well enough for her to sleep without other desperate hands grabbing for it. Heat already begins to build beneath her skin and she resists the urge to wrench her hands back.

“That’s mine. I want it back or I’ll slit your fucking throat.”

[withinkandquill]

Open Starter // Cardan Greenbriar // @ all mutuals

“Ask about the tail. You must be dying to know.”

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Open Starter // Roxane // @ all mutuals

“Don’t worry. It’s just chamomile tea. It’ll help you sleep.”

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Open Starter // Rosanna // @ all mutuals

"I don't know," Rosanna says with a shake of her head and an encouraging smile. "I think you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

[withinkandquill]

Open Starter // Roxane // @ all mutuals

"Sometimes-" Roxane says softly. Her gaze pauses on the other for a moment before turning away again. "-people just want to be happy, even if it's not real."

[withinkandquill]

Open starter // Anya Calwyn // @ all mutuals

The swing creaks as Anya digs the toe of her sneaker in the ground, gently rocking herself as she watches a small group of children play on the nearby jungle gym. They seem to be play acting pirates, maybe? It’s not entirely clear but she watches two little boys slash and stab at each other with invisible swords while one child seems to be using a broken cardboard tube as a telescope.

She isn’t sure why she comes here. It wasn’t like parks were some special, joy-filled place for her. She had not even seen one, or heard of one really, until well into her teen years. Now, watching these kids run back and forth, it just reminds her of how much she missed, how much she endured. These children weren’t scared their parents would hurt them. They weren’t wondering what weapon would be placed in their hands next.

Still, she doesn’t look away from them. Not until she hears the crunch of wood chips and the rattle of chains beside her. Her brow arches as she looks back.

“Fancy seeing you here.”

[withinkandquill]

Open Starter // Melody Randall // @ all mutuals

"Oh, you'd look amazing in that," Melody says, rounding the corner to peer at her customer between the racks of finished clothes. "You can try it on if you'd like."

[withinkandquill]

Open Starter // Anya Calwyn // @ all mutuals

“Stay back or I’ll kill you! I’ll do it! I’ve done it before so I know how!”

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Open Starter // Winter Hayle-Blackburn // @ all mutuals

“I am a girl of ice and snow and I am freezing over.”

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Open Starter // Brianna // @ all mutuals

“Can I help you?”

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Open Starter // Anya Calwyn // @ all mutuals

“Let me go! I don’t want to be here!”

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Open Starter // Winter Hayle-Blackburn // @ all mutuals

“Perhaps we should play pretend? You could be the princess and I will be…what will I be?”

[withinkandquill]

Open Starter // Brianna // @ all mutuals

“I apologize,” Brianna says, sinking into a low curtsy. Ginger curls spill over her shoulders. “I did not see you there.”

[withinkandquill]

Open Starter // Melody Randall // @ all mutuals

Melody hands the jacket back to its owner, now adorned with yellow flowers where there was once a tear. The threads sparkle in a way that seems different than anything one could buy.

"Here you go. I hope you don't mind that I took some...creative liberties."

After all, that protection spell was a fairly powerful one. If only she could say as much.

[withinkandquill]

Open Starter // Rosanna // @ all mutuals

“Look what I caught! A butterfly!”