Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 1: brought to you by an overworked boob bearer

An introduction to the world where anxiety manifests itself. How did they get here? What is their purpose? Where is the toilet? These are some of the questions that won't be answered in this next installment, but you do get to ogle muscles, so you can continue reading at your discretion. Warning: Muscles will only be present in your mind, as will the menfolks shamalamadingdongs.

Writer Tyndali now goes forth...

Two girls looked at each other in fright, bags clutched tight around their shoulders. "What... where are we?" Shay asked.

"I... have no idea. It feels like the mountains, but it's not cold enough." Neara stuck a finger in her mouth and held it above her head. "No breeze..."

"Are there always breezes in the mountains?"

"Probably. They're high up, so they'd have wind moving over them all the time." She wiped her finger on her jeans. "Did we just stumble into an anime or something?"

"That would be... quite terrifying actually. Depending on the anime. I mean, we walked through a bakery and wound up here." They looked at each other, then back to their surroundings. "I don't suppose we're still in the bakery and this is a Narnia type situation?" The pine-scented wind pushed their hair back and dried their eyes. The sun cast few shadows in its noon heat.

"Oh great, we probably have to defeat some monsters or something..." Neara cleaned her glasses and squinted into the distance. She couldn't tell the difference, but she hoped it would reveal something new.

"If we're the protagonists of an anime, we'll naturally learn kung-fu! Or at least get some butt-kicking protectors!" Shay's arms chopped through the air.

"Shay... what if we never get home though?" Glassy eyes, from fear, not the wind, stared unseeingly ahead, as if the mere contemplation of the future blinded her.

"Hey, man, don't cry." Shay pulled her friend into a hug. "Neara, we're going to be okay. We're anime protagonists! We always live to the end, we always have super powers, and, most importantly, we can't die. We're going to be fine. Stop crying so we can figure out our destiny!"

"I'm going to cry for a little bit..." Her hair knotted beneath her fingers. "I'm a little overwhelmed right now, sorry."

"We should dye our hair pink or purple or something awesome so it's obvious we're the main characters. We look too much alike to be easily distinguishable. I'll go bright pink or something, and you can go blue! And don't be sorry for crying." She let go of Neara. "Crying is good for the soul."

"Why blue?"

"Isn't blue your favorite color?"

"No, it's purple."

"Oh. Don't know when that changed. But whatever, you can dye your hair purple then!" Shay looked around herself again and tried again. "I don't see anything to dye your hair with at the moment, but rest assured, something will come up. Or our hair will get drastically altered, like caught in a tree branch and we have to cut it to escape!" Her voice rose in excitement.

"Escape what?"

"I don't know; whatever monsters or demons this world has to offer." A wolf howled in the distance, answered by others who sounded much closer. "Uh-oh."

"I know they're wolves... I just want you to tell me they're not and we're not in danger. Why are you making that face?"

Shay's face relaxed from its tensed position. "I was trying to summon a fireball or something. I want to start practicing my powers as soon as possible. I don't want to be one of those damsel in distress types." No fireball appeared, to their slight surprise.