The sun rose, and as the men slowly gained consciousness, the girls went on their way. The father they traveled, the denser the trees got, and soon the sky was completely hidden by the green tree tops above. The roots were wild and huge, running through the forest floor like a maze. Exotic birds whistled from their hidden nests, and Abby stayed close to Tasha's side as the shadows grew longer and the sun set on another day. The girl's pace slowed drastically, and soon they had stopped completely in an open spot, starting a small campfire. The smoke rose slowly and floated through the trees and on to the starry sky.
"Beautiful night," Abby said wistfully, gazing absently into the fire. In her mind, the firewood changed to the castle walls, the curtains, the parlor-- Abby shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"Yeah," Tasha said quietly, looking at Abby with a worried expression.
"You okay?" Tasha asked. Abby suddenly looked up, looking alert yet confused.
Tasha took this as not hearing the question and repeated it. "...I said, 'are you okay'?"
"No, no, I heard you, it's just...what's that noise?" Now Tasha heard rumbling machinery, followed by multiple crashing noises. Birds scattered, taking cover in the air. The sound of multiple trees crashing down filled the air-- louder. Louder. Louder.
"Run!"
Abby dove for cover but tripped over one of the roots and fell in front of a giant moving metal obelisk.
Tasha grabbed her around the waist and tossed her toward the bushes. Abby looked back, but Tasha had disappeared. The machines stopped and strangely clothed people with colored hair emerged from them.
"What did we hit?" One of the men said, "looked like some sort of animal."
"Nooo," Abby moaned. She raced through the bushes tilll she could see Tasha laying on the ground, a gash above her left eye and a circle of the strange people surrounding her.
'What are these markings?" A young woman with a hard accent asked.
"Destiny lines," said a small, wiry man with tousled hair.
'This is one o' them, then?" said a beefy man as he kicked Tasha with a booted foot, rolling her onto her back.
"Yes," said the wiry man, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "This is an Atlantian."
"Stupid little thing. Pretty, but stupid," said the beefy man, sticking a cigar between his teeth.
"Look at dis," said a man with a very deep voice as he picked up Tasha's spear.
"Wow!" said the wiry man as he leaped at the weapon, "it's such a unique blade, and look at the designs! Looks like pure crystal!"
"We should camp here so I can patch her up," said a small pixy-ish woman as she stepped forward, carrying a metal box.
"Do you think she'll give us directions?" said the beefy man around his cigar. "I'm sick of storming around these woods.
"Maybe," said the wiry man, "if she trusts us."
"See that she does," replied the beefy man menacingly.
"We'll get to that when it comes," the wiry man said, waving away the comment absentmindedly. He was looking at Tasha with awe and fascination.
"Oh dear," said the pixie-like woman, kneeling down next to Tasha.
"What? What's wrong?" the wiry man asked anxiously.
"It's a bit worse than I thought," she said, her small hands opening her metal box. "Nothing a few stitches shouldn't solve, though," she said.
Abby, who was still laying in the bushes watched them all anxiously. Who were these people? Where had they come from, and why did were they invading her home, destroying her forests, and hurting her friends? And what in God's name are stitches? The word made it sound as if one would sew the wound closed. But that's ridiculous, Abby thought. That's almost barbaric.
The pixie woman removed a needle and thread from the box.
That was the last straw! These people could not be trusted, and Abby was not about to watch her friend be sewed up like a child's doll. She ran out of the bushes without thinking and flung herself in front of Tasha's body.
"Stop!" she cried.
The group looked bewildered, and the man wuth a cigar raised his gun. Immediately, Abby knelt to Tasha's side, squeezing her hand and shaking her shoulder.
"Tasha. Tasha, it's me. C'mon, wake ip!" She held back tears. Tasha was her best friend--and her protection against these strangers. The wiry man spoke.
"For Pete's sake, Mr. Ford, put down your gun." the small man tentatively approached the girls, flipping through a book in his hand. He studied them from afar, quietly circling them.
"This...'Tasha' is a chosen one. I can see it in her markings. The chosen swore to protect the royal family at all times...which means that she us the princess. Gentlemen...we have found two of the most important people in all Atlantis!"
"Don't come any closer," Abby said, picking up Tasha's sword. "If you harm us, my country will seek vengeance." Tasha's arm twitched, and her eyes began to flutter and wince.
"We're not here to fight," said the pixie woman. She hesitantly stepped forward, and Abby tightened her grip.
"Dora, don't."
"Let's stop this foolishness," Ford said, grabbing Tasha  and throwing her over his shoulder. "I'm tired of negotiating."
"No!" Abby screamed, and she ran after him, but she was stopped by the thickly accented man. He grabbed Abby's wrist and said, "Goodbye."
He knocked Abby unconscious with the handle of Tasha's sword and she fell to the ground.
"Make sure she gets 'royal treatment'," Ford laughed.
"Stop! Stop, all of you!" the small man said angrily.
"Haha, oh Calvin," Ford said, patting Calvin's shoulder harshly. "We all had this plan way before you appeared on the scene. No one will listen to you now."
Only Dora had a shocked expression as the explorers roughly loaded everything back onto the machine and prepared to leave for their destination-- Atlantis.