Evyn's eyes shot open as he felt something rough against his wrists, his wounded shoulder aching as though being pulled on.  The instant his eyes found the stars, a hand was clasped harshly over his mouth; instinct lead him to kick, but found that his ankles had been tied together.  A feeling of dread--pure and horrible terror--filled the very essence of being.  Those all too familiar wicked, black eyes appeared in front of him.
        "Not a sound."  The demon whispered.  Evyn hadn't the chance to agree or disagree when he was swiftly jerked up and pulled over to a tree, being thrown harshly against the trunk.  The impact forced him to bite his tongue so he wouldn't cry out, distracting him from just how incredibly quickly the boy's fingers moved to knot him securely to the tree, waist and neck.  Memory of Shadow being lassoed and yanked away from him flooded his mind, and he started to panic as the heat grew in his shoulder.
        "A word, a single word, and I'll slice your sister's throat."  Roan growled quietly.  Without response, he crawled over to Taerlyn.
        Evyn didn't know what to do.  He was never so afraid in his life; not even when his sister was at her most numb or Shadow had been taken.  The fear spread and he felt like screaming, but was too afraid to make a sound.  He strained against the leather rope, but it only burned his skin painfully.  Even if he'd wanted to call out, he wouldn't have been able to; his throat had gone dry, his tongue didn't feel like it was still attached.
        He could barely see through his fear and the dark of night, but he heard Taerlyn squeak quietly.  Closing his eyes, he prayed she wasn't hurt, very upset at himself for not paying more attention to--well, anything.  Something should have been done, someone should have done something, anything... and then a bound Taerlyn was dragged beside him and tied to the trunk in the same fashion as he.
        "Not a sound."  Roan repeated in a whisper.  The siblings were barely able to look at each other, terrified, helpless.  The boy that had decidedly turned the tables grinned, then crawled away to finish his game. 

        Shadow opened her eyes and peered directly into the depths of Roan's.  For an instant she prepared to simply throw him off, but realized with a sharp mental kick in the ass that there was a cold blade on her neck.  She knew very well that sometimes while she was dreaming there was nothing in any world that would wake her, but she'd assumed she would be able to immediately react if someone was creeping around her.  Most definitely if someone was sitting above her with a knife.
        As her consciousness cleared, she discovered that Roan was perched very lightly on top of her abdomen, one hand on his knee and the other pressing her own blade to her throat just hard enough for her to know what it was.  He grinned, his fangs shimmering in the moonlight.  "Good evening."  He said cheerily.
        She would have laughed at the whole situation had she not had her own knife to her throat.  Hell, even if it was Evyn's knife threatening, she would have laughed; but feeling her own distinctly curved blade just plain pissed her off.  He'd not only been able to take the knife from her side and sit on top of her, but he'd pressed her own damn knife to her throat.  "What do you think you're doing?" she asked calmly.
        He grinned again, then put his full weight on top of her and pushed the flat of the blade harder against her skin.  "I think we both know you're not that stupid."
        Her eyes flashed as she suddenly thought of the possibilities surrounding what he could have done to her companions, and he croaked a highly amused laugh.  "They're still alive."  He grinned even more widely, moving his body over to the side just long enough for her to see, over his shoulder, Evyn and Taerlyn tied to a tree with the old horse rope at the edge of Little Eden.  "Your beast decided it was a coward."  He added coldly, rocking back and making certain she felt his weight painfully.
        "Out to prove something?" she surprised him with a bleak smile, both concerned and content.  There was something unknown about him pressing a knife at her throat that actually set her at ease, though she never would have admitted it to anyone.  "You're just very good at this kind of thing."  She grinned then, her eyes catching a silver sparkle.  Something distant had caught her mind as if someone was calling to her and stared wickedly into Roan's eyes.
        His own grin fell from his face slowly as he saw her change of expression, and it was enough distraction so that he never heard a thing.  Good old Sandy Grey exploded from a crouch behind the tree line close to Evyn and Taerlyn with unnaturally great speed, thrusting Roan off of Shadow with her head and succeeding in knocking him surprisingly far.  He landed with a heavy thump, the knife having slipped from his hand somewhere between the two of them, flat on the ground.
        Shadow sat up and pet the steed on the nose as Sandy looked back at her with satisfaction.  "You're much smarter than Mr. Ed."  She grunted, lifted, and went over with the sole intent of beating the living, breathing crap out of the boy.  Then watching him heal and doing it again.  And again.
        Still recovering from being flung so high and so far, so very fast, Roan was still laying on the ground with an upward gaze when the girl approached.  She dropped to one knee faster than he could see her move, and gripped the still painful back of his neck with bruising strength to make certain he was paying attention.  "Now," she began firmly, "I am well aware that violence is supposed to beget violence.  But I also know that my personal morals dictate a little violence is pretty goddamn necessary sometimes."
        He grinned up at her with those godawful bouncing eyes, gleaming wickedly with starlight.  "You think you could hurt me?"
        "I dunno." She replied honestly, thoughtfully.  In an almost playful, but distinctly vicious tone, she added, "Let's see."  Her eyes flared with that amazing fire, that intense flame no one could put their finger on.  It was then Roan realized that she really was planning on killing him.  He refused to show his fear, reveal any nervousness at all, but the fact remained that he both wished for death and somehow didn't want it anywhere near him.  So like his master, death.  His thoughts were interrupted by an even harder squeeze, her fingernails digging into the flesh like claws.
        He did not cry out.  He would not cry out for her of all creatures.  He looked into her eyes with a fierceness trapped by years, and reached for the knife she had given him.  She squeezed again, tearing, a more violent grin than any he'd ever seen lighting her face as the flames soared through her eyes, but didn't try to stop him.  She waited in silence for him to make a move.
        By that time, Sandy had used her teeth to chew through the leather binding Evyn and Taerlyn; they were standing a good distance away, watching, waiting for something to happen.  Sandy herself was steadily perched atop the side of the bowl of Little Eden, carefully watching the "happenings", head down, her ears perked, ready should she be needed.
        "Did he hurt you?" Shadow asked the siblings behind her, her eyes not leaving Roan's in the least.
        Evyn seriously pondered lying, but in the end, he had to tell the truth.  If only because of who he was answering.  "No.  He threatened to."
        Shadow grunted, exceptionally disappointed and angry at herself.  Mumbling softly, seemingly unaware she was speaking at all, "That's what I get for dreaming..."
        Roan tried to take advantage of her passing thought by throwing her off, but all he got was a deeper, more painful squeeze and another trickle of blood down the back of his neck.  "Move again and I'll twist your spine out of your body."  She warned calmly.
        "Is that a threat?" he grinned evilly.
        "I don't make threats."  She responded slowly, making certain he got every syllable.  "I make promises."
        The prisoner swiftly drew the knife from his side and made certain Shadow witnessed it.  But it was too late.  Adrenaline combined with her very nature had taken over all else.  She didn't move--only looked into his eyes and waited, a silent try me echoing on her lips without being spoken.  To the watchers, an awkward second of confusion occurred, but to the participants... they'd said all they'd needed to in a glance.  Knowing she had ended Roan's game, she threw his head against the ground in one final act of viciousness, released his neck from her blood-coated fingers, and got up.
        The siblings were speechless, breathless.  Shadow walked to them and said quietly, her voice without depth or emotion, "We keep him alive until we can use him.  Then we get rid of him."  She walked away without a response.  Though she had seemed so calm and together, both of them had heard how out of breath she was, could only imagine how fast her heart was beating in her chest.  She walked down the incline and off to sit by herself for a while.
        From that moment on, Sandy had made the decision that she simply had to be Roan's constant pursuer.  She made a mental note to stay within three yards of him always, no matter the situation.  Walking around until she found Shadow's knife, she picked it up lightly in her teeth, assuring herself of her new role.  And, of course, staring at Roan and wishing she had fingers.
        Evyn watched uneasily as their leader walked off and took a seat quite a distance from the camp in the forest, to gaze at the stars through the canopy and clear her head.  He looked to his sister.  "Well, what should I do?"
        "Talk to her."  Taerlyn suggested quietly.
        He took a deep breath.  "You sure I should instead of you?"
        "She knows you better."  Ter stated.
        True.  But no more settling an option, in his mind.  With another deep breath, he followed tentatively behind slowly, preparing himself to intervene in her silence even though not quite willing or ready to disturb her.  Approaching slowly, he saw that she was only looking upward, breathing much more softly than just a moment ago.  With a quiet swallow, he invited himself to sit by her side.
        She waited just a moment more, gazing into the sparkling points of light, before looking at him.  "Are you the peace maker?" she joked softly.
        "I think so."  He stated, gazing up at the stars a moment himself.  "Are they like this where you come from?"
        "Pretty much."  She answered flatly, making him a little nervous.  "Different stars, I'm sure."
        A long, rather relaxing moment of silence passed as they spent a few more minutes gazing upward, the warm breeze of the night feeling wonderful.  "I know you didn't mean to dream."  He said softly.
        She growled lightly at his statement; not a vicious growl, but one she'd directed only at herself.  "The fact remains..." she trailed off, her voice barely above a whisper. She closed her eyes and tried to get her heart to stop racing.  She was reliving that dream, as weak as the memory was, and then reliving that whole incident...
        "It looks like we don't have to worry anymore."  He suggested.  When she looked at him questioningly, he finished with a smile.  "Sandy's keeping full guard now."
        "Well... that's nice to know."  She said hollowly.
        "What were you dreaming about?" he couldn't help but ask, feeling a need to know what had so distracted her from her instincts.
        "That story he told... of the Pin Princess...  Something to do with that, but I don't know what..." she answered slowly, sounding as though she were still dreaming.  She seemed to snap out of it right after the words had left her mouth cold.  "It's almost gone now...  Do you still want to stay with me?"
        Evyn swallowed.  Part of him, of course, wanted to say hell no, let us out right now.  But another part, an undeniably larger part, persisted of friendship regardless. "Tempting."  He responded honestly.  "But, yes.  We did say we were sure about the decision."
        She finally met his eyes in a crystal clear gaze, his own eyes as blue as twilight and full of concern.  "Did you mean it?"
        "Of course."  He said, his voice wavering only the slightest bit.  "It's just... a bit of a whole new world to us, that's all."
        "Understandable."  She breathed.
        "We don't blame you, you know."  He offered quietly.
        She nearly laughed at that.  It was like being forgiven by a Sunday Christian, in a way.  Instead, she rambled quietly, "I know... but I do."  She cleared her throat quickly and continued in her usual serious voice, "Old problem."
        He didn't know how to respond to that.  He wanted to be comforting, but had no idea whether she would go for that sort of thing, not to mention whether or not she wanted it in the first place.
        "Time for bed."  She shattered his thoughts completely.
        He nodded in true agreement.  "May as well catch what sleep we can."  He waited for her to start walking before he got up and followed her to camp, where Taerlyn was sitting with a large smile on her face, watching an impromptu staring contest between Roan and Sandy.
        "Who's winning?" Shadow whispered.
        "Sandy."  Taerlyn whispered back.  "She's cheating, though."
        "How?" Evyn asked quietly, amused.
        "She keeps kicking him."  Taerlyn started to giggle.
        Shadow grinned widely and began to feel much better.  Sandy could sure as hell handle him, alright, even if it was by keeping him busy with staring contests.  She walked to her bed, and set about remaking it.  Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, after all.  Maybe all was well on the inside, too.  And maybe I'll have a heart attack in my sleep...
        Evyn sat atop his own bed, not quite feeling tired yet.  After all, he thought he would be dead by morning and he'd had a number of scares.  His shoulder was buzzing with pain again, as well.  It wasn't much, but it was enough of an excuse to stay up a bit longer.
        Finally completing the bed to her satisfaction, Shadow sat and looked at Evyn, realizing his intent to stay awake for a little longer.  She pulled her knees closer and rested her chin in her hand, elbow on one knee, merely waiting for conversation to flow.  For once she wasn't really certain if she could start out with small talk.  She was feeling strange... as though adrenaline were still pumping through her, just waiting for Roan to screw up again.  But, more surprising, she wasn't really looking forward to another confrontation.  Not yet, anyway.
        Roan's attention immediately diverted to the pair glancing at one another.  He had interests to pursue, after all.  Though Sandy made no sound of victory, she walked with a bounce in her step to just behind Shadow's bed and plopped down to the ground to lay for a bit.
        "It's different from earth, isn't it?" Taerlyn initiated, having already gotten into bed.  She was gazing at the stars rather than her traveling companions, just watching the twinkle.  She'd hoped to catch a falling one, to make a wish.  What she'd wish for, she didn't know.  But she did need to wish for something.
        Shadow seemed to think that question over before answering it.  "In fewer ways than I first thought..."  She gazed up at the stars for a moment herself, knowing no constellations.  "Well, the mechanics are the same."
        "How's that?" Evyn was genuinely curious.  Another world, a completely other place... it was fascinating to him.  Perhaps what was more so fascinating was how easily she blended into his.  Well, easily enough.
        "Gravity."  She indicated the ground at her feet with the backward sweep of her free hand.  "Stars."  She swept it upward.  "Air, rain, horses, trees... bad people."  She didn't even look Roan's direction.  "But... I think it... much better, here."
        Evyn pondered that answer.  "Don't you miss anything from earth?" he asked quietly.
        "No."  She answered with full honesty.  "Not really.  There was very little... there for me..."  She slowly brought her eyes down from the sky.
        "What about music?" he suggested.
        "It's obviously in this world, the music I like...  I have to find it again, but..." she grinned slightly.
        "What about family?  A love interest?" he couldn't help himself asking.
        "My family is as good as dead..." she answered in a low tone.  "And I've never been interested in anyone like that.  It just seems... rather worthless...  Of course, that's just me."
        Taerlyn hid the grin on her face as well as she could.  Shadow had just pretty much said, "ew, boys", and it amused her greatly.  Even more so when her brother gave her a sideways glance.
        "Are you afraid of male... 'interests'?" Roan questioned viciously.  He wasn't about to let her comments slide so easily.
        Shadow's eyes shot a terribly stinging expression toward him, a warning to be at all times obeyed.  She looked back to her companions after it was clear that the message had been received, regardless of whether he intended to obey.  "Earth is... a place I'm glad to be rid of."  She simplified. They were all so dreamless...
        "It's really that horrible there?" Evyn asked softly.
        She nodded, a look of slight disgust on her face.  "There are bright spots," she admitted, "But they tend to die pretty quickly.  Everyone keeps thinking there was a time when everything was peaceful and everyone was happy... but there really never was."  Maybe it wasn't a cess pool, or even as bad as she made it out to be.  But it was not... her world.
        He put his head in his hand and thought about what she had just said.  It made sense, really.  Everyone talked of better times gone by, but no one alive seemed to remember them enough to actually answer questions.  Even though Shadow acted completely unaffected, he sensed that part of her really was saddened.  Not necessarily by leaving earth, but by what earth was, where she'd come from.  Somehow he knew if she had stayed in that world, she'd have crumbled to dust.  "Are musicians the bright spots?" he grinned softly.
        She so gladly returned the expression.  "Not all of them.  Most of them were bright once, and dimmed...  Well, I guess technically, all of them did..." she trailed off into her own thoughts for a short while.  "All the good ones are either dead or 50 years old."  An undeniably wicked grin crossed her face, but no one knew quite what to think of it.  "They're all damned, you understand."  She finished seriously.
        Evyn blinked at that sentence.  He wasn't the only one who had been a little stunned by her answer; Taerlyn and even Sandy glanced over just for a second.  Roan, however, found himself listening intently.
        "Aren't we all, though..." she continued under her breath, her true emotion hidden behind an almost sincere smile.  "Kill or be killed, live and let die, blah blah and onward..."
        "Isn't that 'live and let live'?" Evyn asked softly.
        "Not where I come from."
        He shook his head in amazement.  "And children survived in this world?"
        "There was an overabundance, actually."  She nearly shuddered, thinking of Sally Strothers and of all of those Christian Children's Fund commercials.  She then laughed, thinking of Dennis Leary's line in "Voices in My Head", "Can't someone just send her a check/ And shut her and those goddamn kids up?"
        Everyone puzzled at the laughter.  Evyn raised an eyebrow, but was answered only with a dismissive wave of her hand.  There were still a million differences between their worlds.  But, she was right about the mechanics being the same.
        It seemed her manner had changed to be a bit brighter.  If there was anything that could bring her out of wretched moods, it was music.  She couldn't hear it, but it was there anyway.  She still had her Guns N' Roses shirt, rips and all.  "Not to be rude, but go the hell to bed."  She kindly suggested, feeling better.
        Evyn grinned back.  "Alright."  Regardless of what had done it or whether or not he would ever understand it, something had made her feel better.  He was just happy with that.  The world still wasn't making much sense to him, but at least he could accept that much.
        Shadow stretched and stared at Roan for a while, who stared back just as bitterly.  "You too, prisoner."
        "As you wish."  He hissed sharply.
        "And I do."  She growled back.  Her voice changed immediately to a more pleasant tone, "Good night, siblings.  Sandy.  Bastard."
        Evyn glanced uneasily toward Roan, but the boy was already laying down and faced away from them.  Himself, he was still very much uneasy about what had happened to him, regardless of feeling much better about it (and who wouldn't be nervous after being tied to a tree and threatened?).  And yet, something seemed to tell him he had no reason to be so nervous.  Not tonight, anyway.  Something had to make him more at ease, though.  Something to make them all more at ease.  "Good night, bitch."
        While Taerlyn gasped like she'd been struck, Shadow laughed.  "The student has become the teacher!" she called triumphantly.
        Evyn grinned widely, but said nothing more as he laid down himself.  There was little left to say.
        "Yes..." Taerlyn started quietly, seeing as how there wasn't a real confrontation going on.  "Yes, uh... goodnight, Shadow."
        She nodded and waved with just her fingers as Taerlyn settled herself in.  All seen to bed, she leaned back and whispered into Sandy's ear, "If you need sleep, you can wake me up."
        The beast only neighed in a whisper and readjusted herself so that her nose was directed right at Roan's head.  She had no intention of letting such a thing happen again.  And, luckily, she was less than afraid to crush him should something else take place.  Though the night seemed long, staring at an almost unmoving boy and listening to breaths and snores, she was satisfied with picking up rest here and there.  How long would they be tied with him, anyway?