All's Fair in Love and War

Part 1

Would you believe it if I told you we were teleported into a world of fantasy? Probably not, right? Well, I hate to break it to you, but that's exactly what happened.

The 'we' I mentioned is me and my friends Summer, Jay, and Helaina. We call ourselves the Hoooman Squad. Having three 'O's in a row may look like a typo - well, it originally was - but we have accepted it. Just like we have accepted each other in all our quirky weirdness.

We all seem to have a persona we have taken up. Summer is the only extrovert of the four of us. As the resident eternally excited and energetic one, she is in charge of brightening the mood. Jay is the latest addition to the group, but she quickly earned her place in all our hearts as a total sweetie. Helaina, the quiet pizza roll addict, is the one who first came up with the idea of the Hoooman squad. She is the one I know best, seeing as she and I were assigned to work on a mural together last autumn and became fast friends.

And then that leaves me. My name is Caitlin, which means 'pure.' I like to call myself an analyzer, a nerd, a cheese lover, and a cat person. Not to mention I have a knack for anything in the arts and sciences. I am an author, as you can probably tell. Otherwise, you wouldn't be reading this!

But what is most important is who we are together. We are a force to be reckoned with, or at least we think so. Not sure what others believe though. Eh, whatever. It doesn't matter.

Our story starts at my place. We were all out in the garage tie-dying outfits. Suddenly, Jay noticed a strange smell coming from inside.

"Umm... is that smoke?" she asked nervously.

I then sighed and cursed myself for forgetting the pasta I was making. Great, I thought, now it's probably inedible. I knew I should have ordered takeout.

We all headed into the house, and were surprised to see that it was not a cooking mishap, but something that could only be described as a tear in the fabric of the universe. It was window-like, despite being in the middle of the room without any walls to hold it. The shape was that of a ripped canvas. We could see through it, but the image was rippling, as if it were underwater. A slight indigo hue covered the other side's image.

After the initial shock of having some sort of cosmic portal in my kitchen, the four of us fully noticed the scene unfolding through the glassy inter-dimensional view. There seemed to be a large crowd all huddled into one place and obviously terrified. Children were crying, and screams of terror could be heard. A raging fire engulfed the nearby pines. Winds were howling and spreading the flames farther. Reds and golds flickered as far as the eye could see.

The scene changed. Now, those crowds were fugitives, homeless and alone. The leader, a bearded man with intense blue eyes, was gathering a small crowd to reclaim their homeland. Erebor, he called it. His baritone voice was powerful, it carried to even the back loud and clear.

Before we had time to process what was happening, we were sucked in.

Hooomans: @KarlTheCat15722 @Fireafy58 @HOOOMANCHEESE and a non-Wattpadder.