No Redemption

Raven
I looked at Garrett. "You ok?" I asked concernedly. He nodded and I turned to Davis and gently placed a foot on his breast bone. I grinned at him and he flinched. "I will let you in on a little secret," I leaned in and stage whispered "You don't fuck with my friends unless you have a death wish." I stepped off of him and he sat up. "But I am going to spare your pathetic life because Clare deserves the truth and if you don't tell her I will make you tell her." I finished my voice as cold as glacieral ice. "How?" He asked cockily. I grinned again "You don't want to know." I replied.

SHANAELA MARZ

I scrambled to my feet, letting Raven take care of Davis. She was much more capable than I was at the moment, but I stood close, sword in hand. The scene was so similar to one of my past, it was almost frightening.

"Touch my daughter again and I swear your head will be rolling down the side of a hill, without the rest of your body." My father hissed, foot digging into the man's chest...

I shook the memory and stumbled a few steps back, glancing at Clare. The poor girl was so devasted by all of this... She had lost absolutely everything she had in a matter of seconds. Whatever Davis had done to her, it was obviously deserving of being mounted on a stake somewhere.

I diverted my stares to Garrett, who seemed to be slightly dazed. He was quite the boy, that one. Not too many princes I knew would risk their lives to save a criminal who had raided their palaces more than once. A slight grin tugged at the corners of my lips and I shook my head slowly. He was an odd one, but his oddity had saved my life. Oh great, you're now indebt. I thought, sighing.

Raven
I shoved Davis towards Clare and turned towards Naela she was lost in a memory of the past that she had yet to tell me about. I looked concernedly at her and asked quietly "Are you ok?" She nodded and I sighed as she pulled away from me just a little. I stroked Shanti absentmindedly deciding not to pry into her past unless she told me more about it. I thought of her as a sister and i was worried about her alot of the time. I hugged her not expecting anything back just letting her know I was here for her to talk to through non-verbal communication.

Taleon

"So, what now?" Elle asked, raising her eyebrows. We had been here for a few hours and I had finally finished catching up with her.

"We don't have to do anything, we can just stay here," Hunter said, shrugging.

"Yeah, we just rescued someone from a castle. We deserve a break," Keiko said cheerfully.

Keiko

Suffice to say I was pleased. I just rescued someone from the dungeons of the freaking palace, for God's sake! I drained another energy tonic and ducked into the kitchen. With me, I brought a plateful of food and a grin. I put it down on the carpet and sat cross legged.

"Well?" I asked. "Eat!"

I picked up a slice of meat and tore into it as Hunter grabbed a cob of corn. I nudged the plate towards Elle.

"Elle. Honestly. You have to be starving. Eat, please." I said, handing her a leg of lamb. She took it delicately and tore into it like there was no tomorrow. Tal beamed and started chewing on his own bowl of fruit.

DAVIS

I chuckled up at the girl.
"Your going to have to do more then that to make me talk." I crossed my arms, but swallowed hard when i saw the prince put his hand on the hilt of his sword. My god forsaken leg was killing me. Dumb mutt. Clare was still trying to fight off the tears that were flowing down her face. I wasn't in a good predicament.

CLARE

It's all a lie. He never loved you. He is a cold heartless killer. He killed someone, who was cared for by other people, and he'd do it again. I was fighting off tears. But they escaped,
"Just tell me." muttered, i wanted , i NEEDED to know the truth!

*gah writers block, could someone have davis tell her, i've rewritten it like a million ways and can't make it sound right.*

~Shadow/Princess~

I simply walked, going nowhere in particular, and not paying attention where I was going. I heard something, and I stopped, looking up from my feet, and looking around. I couldn't see anyone, but I kept still anyway, looking around to see if I could see the castle. To my expense, no. The castle was no where nearby. I had been here so many times, but I had been watching where I was going, and I knew how to get back. Now, I was dazed and confused. I heard the bushes near me shaking, and I turned quickly to see who or what it was.

>Can be anybody! And sorry it's short!<

SHANAELA MARZ

I glared at Davis. I had no idea what he had done to Clare, but it had obviously been horrible. Disgusting little worm...

Voices from deeper in the forest caught my attention, though nobody else seemed to notice. They all seemed to intent on Davis to notice much of anything. I slunk away quietly, limping into the trees. Somebody shouted something at Davis, or maybe it was Davis shouting something at somebody, I couldn't be sure which. I didn't particularly care too much at this point either.

I craned my neck, trying to get a better view of whoever was in the forest. My heart stopped for a moment before picking up pace. The leader of the men who were hunting me... and knowing him, he wouldn't stop because Garrett was a prince. Oh no, he would probably kill him first, just for kicks. He and what looked to be four other men.

He turned his head at precisely the wrong time, catching sight of me and grinning. "Oooh Naelaaa," he called out, voice taunting.

I turned and ran, trying to ignore the pain in my leg. Ignoring pain was something I was getting good at with time, it was proving a useful skill. The men were taking pursuit, and I was nearing where the others were sitting.

Raven saw me first. "Where the heck did you-"

I shoved at her, trying to make her run.

"What's going on?" Garrett asked, frowning.

I pointed at the forest and mouthed Run!, trying to look as urgent as humanly possible. I grabbed Garrett's arm and pulled him forwards, glancing worriedly into the trees. They were close.

Raven saw them and helped Clare quickly to her feet, grabbing Davis by the arm and ushering them into the forest. I took off after them, Garrett at my heels.

"Hidin' behind a prince I see?" His voice sent shivers down my spine, and as much as I wanted to run faster, I couldn't. I felt like amputating my leg, it hurt so bad.

I gave Raven and Garrett another shove, Clare and Davis didn't seem to need any encouragement. I stumbled, wincing at the pain shooting up my leg and tried to compose myself. I couldn't stop now because of some measly pain in my leg. Keep going, you've been through worse. Your father didn't train you night and day so that you could die on him. Keep going.

Garrett!

Glancing back, Garrett's heart caught in his throat. Shanaela was falling behind, fast. Grabbing her hand, Garrett slung her onto his back, ignoring the blood that had begun to seep through the bandage and onto his clean, cotton white shirt. He didn't care. He put his hand on Raven's back, pushing her forward. Suddenly, Davis and Clare disappeared from in front of them. Garrett knew where they'd went. He stepped into the bottomless hole, grabbing the latter with one hand and Raven's hand with the other. He guided her to the latter, and shut the trap door quickly, locking it from the inside. He started climbing down the hole, stepping on solid ground finally. Davis was laying, out cold, on the ground, having had broken Clare's own fall.

Garrett moved his hand around the wall until he found it. He lit the lamp, the light illuminating the insides of the corridor they were in. All part of the underneath of the castle. It stretched out for miles, but only royals knew that. "This way." Garrett sighed, sitting Shanaela down softly and grabbing Davis, soon lifting the heavy man onto his back.

SHANAELA MARZ

I smiled at Garrett before turning to Raven. She was staring at me, obviously confused. I sighed, deciding that now would be a good time to confide in somebody. You want to know?

She nodded, smiling and grabbing my arm, wrapping it around her shoulder to take the weight off of my injured leg. "I swear it on my life I will keep it secret," she whispered.

I sighed again, contemplating on how to tell her. She couldn't read my lips like this, and I couldn't write anything with my arm around her shoulder. I put my weight on my good leg and pulled my arm away, grabbing my notebook and pen.

My father owed money to some men, but had no way of paying it. They swore that they would kill both of us. They killed my father two years ago, and they've been hunting me every since. It was blunt and not exactly descriptive, but it would have to work for now. At least she knew, maybe I'd fill her in on the details later.

I handed the notebook to Raven and shot a glance at Garrett and Clare, hoping they weren't getting snoopy. Satisfied that Clare was too devasted to notice much at all, and Garrett just wasn't in a snoopy mood, I turned back to Raven.

I winced as pain shot up my leg and stopped walking for a moment, taking a few deep breaths. Just keep going Naela. I seemed to be telling myself that a lot lately.

I glanced behind me to see Shanti slinking well behind the other two animals. Was she hurt? I clucked my tongue and she looked up, ears pricking up. She trotted over, obviously fine. I smiled and stroked her head lightly before continuing to limp.

Raven
I handed the notebook back to Naela and I looked straight at her. "Thank you." I said quietly. She seemed taken aback. "For what?" She asked confusedly. "Telling me." I replied still quiet.

CLARE

Good thing Davis is a big guy, he broke my fall. I followed close behind the prince, he obviously knew who Davis was, what else did he know? He must be strong if he could pick Davis up. I really wanted to hit him. No one deserves to die, and he took someones life. I wonder if his parents really were dead. I wondered where mine were. I didn't realise i had drifted off into thought again, i had picked up pace and was walking beside the prince now. I looked up at him, he was watching the path in front of him, clearly deep in thought. I looked over to the other two girls, they were having their own little private conversation.

Taleon

I smiled towards Elle. I didn't know exactly what they had been feeding her but I was guessing it was probably inedible and terrible food.

We finished eating. We were all rather pleased, Elle and I most and Keiko and Hunter looked happy that they had succeeded.

Keiko

I sighed and leaned my head against the armrest. "Hunt?"

"Mmrgh. Yeah?"

"Do you think this is where we belong?'

There was a pause. "I don't know, Twitch. I like it, but I liked Naela's group too. And it seems too good to last."

"I agree. I mean, I still think about Naela-a lot- but... Tal's great. Not sure about Elle, but hey, who knows?"

It was Hunter's turn to sigh. "D'you think we'll ever be accepted if regular people know our past?"

I barked out a quick laugh. "Do I think we'll ever be accepted for murdering, stealing, resisting arrest, and the odd conspiracy? No."

He rolled his head over to face me. "I don't know, Twitch. Something feels off here. I don't know what, but it's there."

Taleon

I had never asked about their past, but I could see them discussing and new there was something going on... I turned to Elle to see that she was looking towards them with keen interest.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"I don't know," she muttered. "I just feel like they're hiding something from us."