The Shadows- *Started, but spots still open!*

GINNY

I looked at Lex. The big people hadn't made us go to sleep yet, and now they were all fighting. Han was yelling about danger and senses. I yawned. I was tired from exploring all day, but it was fun. Lex wasn't so mean after you got to know him a little bit.

"Aren't we getting Rosey and Jakey back?" I asked, trying to stay awake.

Han looked at me sadly. "Not yet." He turned around and looked at the Zanea girl. "We can get them tomorrow night, assuming they havn't moved camp. By then we'll have a better plan then simply storming them anyways."

Zanea glared at him, but she didn't yell. I petted Calile and stared at Zanea. She didn't look very happy at all.

"Can I go to sleep now?" I asked, yawning again.

Helen sighed and looked at me. "Yes sweety, you can go to sleep now."

I smiled and layed down right where I was standing and closed my eyes. Rosey and Jakey would be back tomorrow night.

Thomas

"Yeah, Prince's brother over there has a point," I shrugged, "We can hardly go now, it's too risky."

The Prince's brother turned to me and glared. "I do have a name, you know. It's Han."

Oh yeah, I knew his name, didn't I? Ah well, I wasn't one to learn names, especially names that belonged to a bunch of losers like these guys. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself at the thought of me actually spending my time with these saddos.

"Dude, I'm agreeing with you," I laughed. "Don't get offended."

Han simply rolled his eyes and ignored my comment. That Zanea girl glared at me as well as if I'd just smacked her. These guys needed to relax more. Why did they even care that much about that girl and that little boy? The only people they should be caring about was themselves. Caring about others just got others hurt, I'd learnt that a long time ago.

Shaking the memories out of my head, I lay down and sighed. Zanea and Han were still speaking, although I'd say that they were arguing more than speaking now. My thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"You're not being very nice to them," It was that annoying ghost again.

"I can hardly let them like me," I muttered, making sure that no one else could hear me. "I'll only end up messing up their lives even more."

The little, dark haired ghost looked at me and sighed. If she wasn't a kid, I'd have told her to shut up. I didn't though. I did have a heart, well I did sometimes anyway.

Empress Carolina was still restless, pacing her quarters. Maybe if Bob would stop interrupting her deep thinking sessions she would be able to figure out what dastardly project she was supposed to initiate.

There was a frantic knock at the door. Empress Carolina furrowed her eyebrows, grabbing her long bow from her bedside. "Come in," she said sweetly.

A messenger burst in, sweat dripping from his brow.

"Your majesty," he panted. "There is news." He kept his head down, not daring to look up at Empress Carolina.

Carolina didn't let her guard down. She aimed her long bow at the messenger's heart.

"Your son," he gasped. "He's caught AnnaRose."

Empress Carolina smirked. "You are dismissed."

Zanea

We'd have to wait that long to get Maria? I sighed and sat down. Might as well wait.

[*sigh* REALLY sorry here - can't be on nearly as much. Grounded for the rest of the school year. Heh. At the very least, I'll come on here when the rents are out.]

Ouch Raz!
That's fine though, I totally understand your pain

Haha well, they're out a lot! Also, I have my notebooks. It sucks for the people who read Dollhouse, because the next chapter will be put off for...oh, another month or so.

:\

Anywho...back to the story! We can rant about grounding more in the DT xD

Zanea

Isha, would you mind if I made a character of Maria? Sorry we're putting of the story more but I'd like to SB her.

You go right ahead Sunny.
Okay!
So NOW back to the story! xD

I'll be gone till Wendsday.

Thomas

"Right!" I jumped up. "I'm going to have a wonder, look for food or sumit."

Everyone glanced at me briefly before continuing to discuss whatever. Wow, I had fans in this group, didn't I? I couldn't help but laugh as I headed into the depths of the forest. As I entered the forest, I inhaled the fresh air. I hated being on my own, it made me think about things.

I was beginning to regret wondering off as I thought about the last ten years of my life. I thought about my sister, how I'd just let her die. As I pushed branches out of my face, I realised that my fists were clenched. Breathing out heavily, I shut my eyes. Just think about something else, I thought. Think about those losers back there, or something. I smiled as I did exactly that.

I'd almost forgotten that my eyes were closed when I suddenly tripped over something. Cursing under my breath, I sun around to see what I'd tripped over. My eyes widened when I saw a girl, lying on the floor; unconscious.

"Uh..." I muttered. "Are you okay...?"

The girl groaned before turning to me. I watched her silently as she groaned and slowly sat up. Meh, she was quite hot. She was a bit of a mess, but still.

"What...? Who...?" The girl muttered.

"Yo, I'm Tom." I sat down beside her. "You are?"

The girl narrowed her eyes before speaking. "I... I'm Pierce..."

Weird name...

ANNAROSE

The prince walked into the tent, glaring at me intently. "Good to see you're awake." He hissed.

Actually I had just woken up a few minutes ago. It still looked fairly dark outside to me, but oh well. I pursed my lips, sat up and crossed my arms across my chest. He wouldn't get the better of me. "My majesty," I said in mock respect. dipping my head.

"Your arrogance will get you nowhere my dear. Wake the boy and girl up." He crossed his arms, lips set into a flat line.

I glared at him, but did as I was told. "Jakey, wake up honey," I whispered, shaking his shoulder gently. I turned to Maria. "Maria, wake up sweet heart," I shook her shoulder gently.

Jakey yawned and stretched, eyes fluttering open. Maria shot up without so much as blinking. I managed a weak smile at both of them before looking back to the prince. "And you want what out of me exactly?" I hissed.

"You tried to slit my throat! Don't ask me what I want of you!" He frowned, fists clenched at his side.

"Understandable. But what did these two ever do to you?" I demanded, gesturing towards the children.

He grinned. "That's classified. Now, if you'll just come with me please." He wiggled his finger for me to come.

I thought of retorting with a sassy remark, but it might put Jakey at risk. I rose slowly, trying to stay standing. My leg still hurt immensly. I hobbled over to him and he grabbed my arm.

"Rosey!" Jakey squealed.

"Jakey stay there! Do not move! Do you hear me? I'll be okay!" I demanded before exiting the tent.

"What do you want?" I pulled my arm free.

He just walked around me in thoughtful circles, examining me throughly. Creep. Finally he stopped behind me and rested and hand on my shoulder. "I want the others obviously. Especially Han. We have a score to settle. Cooperate or the little ones will have a very horrid life indeed."

My eyes widened in horror. He wanted me to what?! Never would I betray Han. But if I didn't.... "That's what I thought my dear. Remember what's at stake. Let the guards take care of you for now." He nodded to them and they approached me. Great.

Atashi & Lex:

Lex sat on the floor, scratching his name into the dirt with the end of a forked stick. Atashi looked up from her blistered hands to stare at her brother. She looked at the stump of what use to be his arm. Lex hated it when people felt sorry for him, but Atashi couldn't help but feel a small pang in her chest every time she laid eyes on her brother.

Sighing heavily, Atashi pushed herself to her feet surveying the area. Jacob and Annarose were gone, everyone was hungry....this couldn't possibly get any worse then it already was. Lex giggled at his peice of work.

It was the only thing he knew how to write. And even then it looked sloppy and lacked any knowledge behind the meaning. Ginny ran out towards them, a smile spread across her face. Lex smiled, he liked playing with Ginny.

"Wanna climb a tree?" Ginny asked. Her eyes looked streaked with tears, crying from the loss of Annarose and Jacob no doubt. Atashi stared at the girl. Ginny forced a smile at her, grabbing on the Lex's arm she pulled him away. Atashi frowned, did Ginny ever wonder how Lex lost his arm? Did anyone?

Lex looked over his shoulder to see his sister staring intently after him. Her long blonde hair bellowed around her heart shaped face, her sea blue eyes brimming with unshed tears. Atashi looked away suddenly as she met her brothers golden eyed gaze. Clenching her fists, she gulped down her sorrows and looked up into the sky. Clouds rolled across the sky, the sunset dawned on the small area the group was camped.

GINNY

We ran for a little bit, trying to find the perfect tree. "I like this one!" Lex called. I giggled and ran up to him.

The tree was really big and it had lots of nice branches. I nodded. "This one looks good!" Calile was coiled around my arm and I had to move him so that I could bend my elbows.

I smiled and grabbed a branch. Lex laughed and came up, too. He was a good climber, especially since he only had one arm. I wondered how he got it, but my mommy had told me that asking questions like that was rude and it made people sad. It didn't matter much anyways, he was nice after you got to know him and that's all that mattered.

"I betcha we could see Rosey and Jakey from up here! We'll find them and be heroes!" I said. Being a hero would be cool! All the big people would love me and they would make me their queen. I grinned.

"Maybe. Being a hero would be sort of neat," Lex answered, reaching down to help me get onto a branch that was too high.

When we finally got to the top, we could see lots. Lots, but no Rosey and no Jakey. I looked around, holding onto the branch tightly.

"Woah! Look at that!" Lex shouted. He sounded real excited so I looked where he was pointing. A big circle of water! It looked really funny to me and it was far away. "Should we tell the big people?" I asked.

"I think so!" Lex nodded, already climbing down. I followed him and started to run back to where the big people were all sitting.

"Han! Helen! Zanea!" I shrieked, running towards Han. He was closest.

"What Ginny?" he asked. He didn't smile at me like the girls would have.

Lex ran up, panting beside me. "We...found a stream! It runs in a big circle!"

"I wanted to tell him!" I pouted, crossing my arms.

He stuck out his tongue at me. "It's hiding behind some big rocks and trees!"

How come I didn't get to tell anything? Han looked surprised. "Do you think you could show us when Tom gets back?" he asked, crouching down.

I nodded. "It's really neat!" I beamed at him and he ruffled my hair, making me giggle. I liked making people happy.