All her life Teresa Holmes has wondered where she truly belonged. She wished to know her purpose so that she could fulfill it, but her wishes remained just that. Wishes that seemed almost like a dream, when in reality she is just a girl. An orphan. Abandoned by her own mother with no recognition of why or whom her father even is. The ghost of memories she shared with her mother haunt her at every moment no matter how much she wishes they would go away. She loves her mother of course, but who has the heart to abandon a six-year-old year in the middle of the forest with nothing to defend herself with?

Teresa was lucky that a group of hunters were passing by and found her or else the young girl may have died from starvation. Robin Hood and his group of Merry Men were kind enough to give her clothes, food, water, and a nice, warm fire to sleep cozy near. When she became the age of eight, she was even given her own weapon, that of a bow and quiver full of remarkable arrows, fashioned by Robin Hood himself. She would always be thankful to Robin and the Merry Men, for they had saved her life that day.

Not long after living with the Merry Men, did Teresa decide to venture out into the world, promising to always visit Robin Hood and the others once in while. She met a friend on her adventures, but their friendship did not last when Marley suddenly disappeared on her one day. It shocked Teresa╶ learning that everyone wanted to strike her heart with the bitter pain of abandonment. She became distant after, never trusting easily anymore so as to avoid further abandonment.

One afternoon while she was hunting, Teresa was lucky enough to come across someone that would change her entire life. Her name was Snow White╶ Teresa recognized the raven-haired runaway from her wanted posters hung up by the Evil Queen. Why Snow White was being hunted, Teresa did not know.

Upon first glance, Teresa wanted to strike the raven-haired woman with an arrow and claim the reward for herself, but something about Snow White spoke to her. It turns out that they both needed each other. So Teresa had lowered her bow and said to the runaway that she was safe with her ... thus a beautiful friendship had been forged. A friendship that was practially family.

Now three years and here they are, together, running through the woods, dodging low branches and jumping over fallen trees, on their way to their biggest robbery yet. To survive, that is what they do. Steal things, and sometimes even pawn them to people who will give them enough money to purchase food and clothes and weapons, if that is what need.

Teresa glanced over her shoulder to her raven-haired friend that was lagging slightly behind, as Teresa was always much faster than her. "Hurry, Snow!" She shouted quietly.

Finally, they reached the path of road and Snow pulled out her ax from her leather belt. Before Snow could start knocking down the tree, Teresa grabbed her wrist, abruptly stopping her. The sixteen-year-old archer stepped forward and ripped down the wanted poster that had Snow's face on it, crumbled it up, and tossed it over her shoulder. Snow smirked lightly, before stepping forward and intructing Teresa to keep watch for the prince's carriage that they would soon be robbing while she cut down the tree to block the road.

"I'll get in the tree so I'll be able to see the road ahead better from higher up," Teresa said as she began walking over towards another tree in the area.

Snow nodded as she swung her ax into the trunk, again. "Good thinking."

Teresa cast her hood up over her blond head before climbing up a tree. She sat on a high branch, watching for the carriage with her ice-blue eyes. After a few minutes, Snow managed to successfully chop down the tree. Afterwards, she hurriedly began to climb up the tree just as Teresa voiced that she could see the royal carriage approaching.

The knights that were holding the reins of the royal carriage pulled the horses to a stop upon seeing thaf their path was blocked. "Whoa, whoa!" Some of them even exclaimed.

The two theives up in the tree watched as their plan was set into motion, for the carriage had now come to a complete stop and the knights began to examine the tree with suspison before calling for their lord. The carriage door opened and Prince James, the soon-to-be husband of King Midas' daughter, stepped out with his sword attached to his hip.

With the prince and most of the knights distracted by the tree blocking their path, they knew it was time for them to rob the carriage. "Now," Snow whispered. Just as they were about to jump from the tree and rob the prince and princess, a twig suddenly snapped from below them, startling Snow White in that moment. She lost her balance and fell from the branch that she had been perched on, bringing Teresa down with her, for she had grabbed onto the young girl as she was falling.

"Snow!" Teresa hissed in a whisper, frustrated that her friend had ruined their entire plan. The plan that which they thought up so cleverly in a weeks time. The archer quickly pulled her friend up and together they hid behind a tree to avoid being spotted by the knights, whom they figured had heard their bodies collide with the woods floor.

After a few moments, they peeked around the tree to find that the prince had returned to his carriage and the knights had begun working together to move the tree from their path. Their plan had failed.

"It's too late now," Teresa whispered.

Snow sighed and grabbed her friends wrist. "Let's go." With a nod from Teresa, they took off into the woods.

─────

Teresa and Snow had decided it was best they flee. The best solution would be by sea, so as they walked into the Harbor Tavern, they held tightly onto their hope as they observed the drunken men and tavern wenches for a ship captain that would have a kind enough heart to allow them safe passage aboard his or her ship. Upon entering the tavern, Teresa had wrinkled her nose in disgust from the horrible fish smell, but she quickly got used to it the more she breathed it in.

Soon, Snow White's eyes landed on Black Beard, an intelligent ship captain that knew the sea like the back of his hand. He was known across the realm as the finest sailor in all the kingdoms. Some even thought he was born with sea salt in his veins and waves in his eyes, destined to sail before he was even born. After nudging Teresa and motioning toward Black Beard, the two walked over and sat themselves on the bench in front of the famously known captain.

"Well?" Black Beard urged, eyebrow raised in question as he stared across at them.

"We need to get far away from here. As soon as possible," Teresa said.

"And we need our destination serect," Snow finished, passing him a pouch of gold coins that her and Teresa have been saving for this sort of ocassion.

Black Beard weighed the pouch in his hand before eyeing the two girls across from him. "Then you're talking to the right captain. However, turning a blind eye will cost double."

Teresa and Snow shared a look, wondering just how they were going to get that sort of money. In that moment they had really wished they had succeeded in their robbery that morning, for then there wouldn't be a problem right now. Black Beard stood without uttering another word and left them alone to ponder on their next course of action.

The pair eventually left the stuffy tavern to sit outside in the cool, night air, where the drunken crowd and flirtatious wenches wouldn't interrupt their thought process.

"Would you stop pacing, Snow? We'll find another way to get the money," Teresa said from where she sat in the dirt, picking the dirt from beneath her nails with one of her spare arrowheads. Her raven-hairsd friend, as she already mentioned, was pacing the muddy ground in front of her.

"Ladies, my captain would like a word with the two of ya." Upon hearing a voice that didn't belong to either of them, Teresa and Snow looked to their right. There, they found a rather pudgy man in a red hat and brown trousers. His face was slightly red and he was offering them a nervous smile, glancing between them with obvious anxiety.

After glancing at each other, Teresa arose from the ground and the two followed the pudgy man towards his captains ship. They wondered if he was apart of the Black Beard's crew, and, if he was, if Black Beard had changed his mind on them boarding his ship.

They were led onto a fairly nice ship that was trimmed with red and had fine sails. The pudgy man led them into the captain's cabin, where the door closed behind them as they sat down in the two chairs in front of the captain's desk. The room was dark, the captain sitting before them and appearing like a shadow, with not even a candle lit in the small quarters.

"Who are you?" Teresa asked with slightly narrowed eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest, hoping that by narrowing her eyes she could catch a glimpse of his face through the darkness. She couldn't, without was slightly irritating her. She wanted to know who this man was and why he was hiding himself.

"It doesn't matter. I'm a captain and I can help you."

Teresa and Snow exchanged a glance. "So, what do you want?"

"It's not what I want. It's what I can offer. I hear that you both seek passage out of the Enchanted Forest."

Snow nodded slowly. "That's true. But we haven't enough money."

"I don't give a damn about money. It's treasure I want. I think you can get it for me," He placed a wanted poster on his desk. "Snow White. You are a thief, aren't you?" The captain then glanced toward Teresa. "And with help from your friend here, I'm sure the deed will get done twice as fast."

"So if we procure this item for you, you'll grant us safe passage on your ship?" Teresa wanted to confirm.

The man nodded. "To any realm you wish."

Snow smiled slightly. "Then tell us ... what do we have to steal?"

"A wedding ring."

─────

They had arrived at King Midas' Golden Castle when the sun had set, the moon was ruling the realm, and the engagement ball had started. Carriages were lined up along the path up to the wide open castle doors, where two guards clad in armour were instructing the beautiful ladies and their lords inside. Channeling their inner hunter, Teresa and Snow snuck up to to the wall and looked around for guards near them.

Find none, Teresa turned to her friend. "I'll go up first," she said. "The last thing we need is for a guard up there to yell out your name." Snow nodded in agreement as Teresa cast up her hood and began to climb the wall.

Once she reached the top, Teresa jumped down the parapet and took a moment to look around. She smirked when there was no sign of any guards and peeked down at Snow, whistling the signal that the area was clear. Snow nodded and began to climb up.

After Snow jumped down onto the parapet beside Teresa, they hurriedly made their way over to a nearby door, opened it, and walked into the castle. They searched a few rooms until finally finding the room that belonged to the bed chambers of the prince and princess, where they began to search desperately for the wedding ring, hoping in their moments of searching that it wasn't on the princesses finger in the ballroom.

"It's a wedding ring, where the hell could this prince keep it?" Teresa huffed, shutting the clothing drawer after finding it empty.

"Who knows. Let's just hope it's not on him," Snow said, dropping down to her knees next to a trunk.

It was a couple minutes later that Teresa opened up the wardrobe and found a satchel that surely belonged to the prince. "Snow," she said with a smile. Her friend looked up from the trunk she was rummaging through and toward her, a smile slowly working it's way across her face when she spotted the satchel. Snow shut the trunk and got up, walking over to her friend, who pulled open the satchel bag. They smiled down at the ring.

Teresa pulled it from the bag and held it up in front of them. "Our ticket to freedom."

The door behind them suddenly opened and they were surprised to find that the prince had walked in on them. Teresa silently cursed in her mind, Snow snatched the ring and held it in her grasp, and the prince tensed up while pausing in his steps as he eyed them cautiously. "Who are you?"

Remaining silent, the two quickly bolted towards the window for a quick escape.

"Stop. Theives!"

Teresa unlocked the window and pushed it open, just as Snow hit the ground with a thud and a grunt, the prince having tackled her. He turned her over and blinked in surprise. "You're a girl."

"Woman," Teresa corrected, punching him in the jaw and sending him off her friend. He groaned in pain and hels his jaw, allowing Snow to jump to her feet and head for the window with Teresa.

"James, what is taking you so╶ " The princess froze when she spotted Teresa and Snow at the open window, and her eyes widened when Snow gave her a smile. "You're ... You're Snow White." Her eyes widened in fear and she turned around and yelled to the guards that were just around the hall, "Snow White! Snow White!"

"Go!" Teresa urged her friend. The two began to quickly climb down the castle wall, Snow going first after Teresa practially pushed her from the ledge. Once they got to the ground, Snow grabbed Teresa's wrist and pulled her over to where the carriages had been parked. They unhooked the horses from the closest carriage and quietly mounted them. Whipping the reins hard, the horses began to gallop down the path.

"You can't hide from me! Wherever you are I will find you!" They heard the prince yell as they fled, making them smirk.

Then, suddenly, a horrible pain shot throughout Teresa's body. She gasped in pain and fell off her horse, which only made the pain far worse. The last thing she seen before her entire world was consumed by the darkness swimming in her vision, was Snow White galloping away on her horse. She smiled weakly as her eyes fluttered close, knowing that at least her friend had got away.