Let's go back in time, shall we?

8 years later...

Ah, just another day in Castaway Island. The sun is shining, the Terrible Terrors are growling-

"TIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRR!!!!"

-and the rest of us were chopping trees off the cliff.

Yup, just another day.

See the boy with the jet black hair that just knocked over the tree?

That's Drake. And don't worry, he's funnier than you think. But to some people, they're like, 'why are you so idotic,' or 'why do you act so dumb?'

Seriously, what's you're problem?

Anyways, he's not the only one that gets that treatment.

What're you all staring at? It's not me!

See the short haired redhead over there? That's Jena. She gets that treatment, not me.

But at least she's smarter than him.

And to the rest of us, they're soul mates. But you didn't hear that from us.

You see the dirty-blonde haired boy that's trying to flirt with the brunette? The boy's Xian, and the girl's Abby.

Xian is sorta like the two, except instead of stupidity he's annoying. Always thinking that Abby or me has a crush on him, he's just plain stupid.

But not crazy stupid like Jena and Drake, who are now setting the tree on fire.

Wait, WHAT?!?!

Nevermind that, moving on.

Abby is very sweet, and pretty much all goody two shoes.

Same as her twin brother, Nate. Both kind, both insanely smart, and both act like leaders.

Well, Nate does and Abby has her temper problems with Xian.

But I understand, I have those problems too. Just not on lover boy over there.

"Hey losers!"

Him.

Brett Bealer, aka the leader of the popular crowd here. For some reason, he enjoys bullying, beating up, and blackmailing others.

Us, in particular. Ya, we're his favorite.

"What," Jena and Drake asked symmetrically.

"Can't you guys get the job right for once? Or do we have to take over and do this ourselves?"

See? Even he misjudges their stupidity.

"Our job is to just get rid of these things, we can do it however we want," Jena snapped. "What are you even doing here anyways? Did Larry run out of use for you?"

Brett laughed, "as if, you can't even put good use to yourselves."

Rolling my eyes, I looked up from my work.

"Excuse me, us? Why, you can't even train your own dragon."

You see, when we get to age 6, we choose a dragon from the Hatchery. We start taking care of it after it hatches. Nate chose a Gronkle, Abby chose a Monstrous Nightmare, Xian chose a Thunderdrum, Jena chose a Scouldren, Drake chose a Hideous Zippleback, and I chose a Whispering Death.

Brett chose a Typhoomerang. Bad choice, because he doesn't listen to a thing he says.

(Note: here are the dragon's names
Boulder = Nate's dragon
Scarlet = Abby's dragon
Maximus = Xian's dragon
Coral = Jena's dragon
Bash and Crash = Drake's dragon
Blackjack = Lisha's dragon
HellFire = Brett's dragon)

"Psh, I just let him do whatever he wants. Unlike you people who force your dragons to do your work."

"Oh, so when HellFire burned up the Courthouse you were totally fine with it?"

"H-He was just in a bad mood!"

"Right, so when he refused to eat the eels you brought, threw them across the room, and spooked the other dragons out of the stables he was just cranky?"

Brett huffed, "you know what now I know why you're birth parents abandoned you, they probably knew you'd be this annoying so they left you to die."

The smirk on my face instantly turned into a frown.

This was one of the reasons I had temper problems, he would always talk about the fact I don't was adopted.

Eventually, he would think of a dozen reasons how and why I ended up here. Unfortunately, none good. Every one of it to make me feel bad.

Sometimes I actually believe some of it. I mean, if they actually did care, they would've left a note saying who I was and to take take good care of me. Not even my name they bothered to mention. So instead, Aisha and Greg named me Lisha.

My real name probably was stupid like Dore or Natile or something (note: those mean useless).

Trying to ignore Brett, I turned around and continued to chop one of the trees.

"What's the matter, Lisha? Can't stand the truth?"

Ignore him.

"Why, maybe you got your stubbornness from them as well. You're mom was probably a whore and got pregnant!"

I gripped the handle of my axe tightly, anger filling in me. Shut up, shut up, shut up-

"Did I mention that you're dad might've raped her?"

That's it.

Without thinking, I turned around, swung my axe and-

SLASH!!!

Brett's head fell with a thud, horror still written on his face. The rest of his body tumbled down with it.

I felt relieved at first, but it instantly vanished when I saw my friends.

Their faces a mix of horror, fear, anger, and shock. The only time I've seen them like this was when they saw a-

Criminal.

Murderer.

Monster.

Traitor.

So I ran. Without a second thought, I ran. Nobody would look at me the same again.

Not even Greg.

Not even Aisha.

Not even my friends.

Not even the kindest person in the world would.

============================

"We haven't seen her all morning," Aisha said.

"Oh, well thanks anyways Aisha, " Abby replied, disappointed. "Is it okay we visit her room?"

Aisha nodded, and the gang ran upstairs.

Once they reached the door, they gasped. The room was empty, as if no one ever slept there.

Almost empty.

On the desk was a small folded piece of paper. Nate picked it up, unfolded it, and read:

Dear anyone who finds this,

I can no longer stay Here because of what I've done  to Brett. If you are my gang, then I'm sorry for what you all saw.

I'll miss you all,
~Lisha

Nate look up, sorrow filled his eyes. The rest of the gang stared at him in shock.

"Does this mean she's-"

"Gone," Nate finished. "But she didn't say where."

Jena looked over his shoulder, "I can't believe you guys can't see it."

"See what?" Abby asked, confused.

Jena snatched the letter, "see all those bold underlined letters? You're supposed to unscramble them and see the coded message."

Drake nodded, "exactly, watch."

Drake peered at the note, then wrote down the letters.

D r a o n s n e r s H b u a e

After a few tries, he wrote:

Dragon Hunter base

"Dragon Hunter base!" Abby said excitedly.

"Wait, how did you two do that?" Xian asked, mystified.

"We're experts at interpreting coded messages," Jena replied matter-of-factly.

"There's only one problem," Nate said. "Of all places, why would she be there?"