Dakota glanced at Magnolia, who sat alone by the fire he had created. Archer, Phoenix, and Hudson had gone hunting for dinner, knowing they probably wouldn't get anything. Magnolia patted the grass off her black dress, wrapping her bare arms around herself for more warmth. Dakota could see the loneliness in her eyes and in her gestures. He knew what it was like, to be used to shutting people out, never knowing what it's like to trust someone.

Dakota walked over and stood against a tree beside the fire, raising his eyebrows at her, "So tell me, Princess, what do you miss most about the high life?"

She glanced at him, wondering if he was being serious, for she could never understand him. He was a mystery himself. He kept his eyes on the ground, waiting for her response.

"Dancing." She swallowed, remembering Evan's comical smile when he had asked his sister for a dance. Dancing always helped her calm her raging thoughts. She felt as if she transformed into a different person when she spun around freely.

The answer surprised Dakota, as he nodded in response.

"And you? What do you miss most about your past?" She turned towards him, widening her eyes up at him. He gulped, looking away from her face and at the sky. He shook his head, suddenly not able to speak, making it hard for him to breath.

He couldn't say her name, couldn't think about her face. He wasn't going to break down in front of the Princess, let alone open up to her about his past. He avoided eye contact, avoided the question.

Magnolia came up with another question, not wanting to push the touchy subject too far. "How do you guys have guns? I thought the King banned them from Merindal Kingdom a few years ago."

"I've had mine since the beginning," He answered and Magnolia realized he was talking about since he ran away, "And we've... found some throughout the years."

There was a long silence after that, neither of them knowing what to say. Eventually, Archer and the others came back, revealing that they couldn't even spot an animal.

Archer set down his weapons and squatted next to Magnolia. "Hey Maggie, I think you need to share your past and why you ran away."

She whipped her head towards him, narrowing her eyes. "What?"

"Just hear me out, okay? I don't want you to go back to the castle. You ran away for a reason, and don't want to go back for same reason, so you need to tell everyone because right now I'm the only one that is on your side, and my opinion doesn't trump the others."

Magnolia swallowed, knowing he was right. She watched as everyone sat down around the fire. Dakota slightly smiled, nodding at her. He wanted her to share.

Hudson sat down, "We all have shady pasts, but that doesn't shape us. What shapes us is when we decide the past doesn't define our futures."

Magnolia stared into the flames before her with an unblinking gaze. Everyone around her seemed to wait expectantly with wide eyes.

"Um, I guess it all starts when the Queen, my mother, began to forget... Like everything."

"It's bad, huh?" Phoenix asked, giving her a sympathetic glance. Magnolia nodded at him, not making eye contact.

"And well, I was basically being raised by the servants in the castle because my mother wasn't around and my father, well, he favored my brother. It didn't really matter to me, because I knew my brother was going to be a great King."

"Where is this going exactly?" Slate spoke up, obviously bored with her story.

"Shut up, Slate." Dakota snapped, and Slate obeyed. Archer nodded at Magnolia to continue and she did.

"I was really close to my brother, he was my best friend and the only one I was actually close to. He became severely ill, causing the King to go crazy. He gathered all the healers in all the lands, trying to save my brother. None of them could do a thing to save him, making the King to turn angry and full of hatred. He put the blame of my brother's death on everyone and anyone he could, including me."

Magnolia swallowed, tears swelling up in her eyes. She inhaled and exhaled shakily, trying to keep it together.

"How I was living, it wasn't exactly living. I was saddened with the loss of my only friend and only brother, while my Fath-... the King let out his fiery out on me every night. No one was there to protect me, no one to call to. The King turned his kingdom into relentless murderers and for him, war was the only answer. The burden for me being future Queen was unbearable and I knew I couldn't be the Queen of a murderous kingdom. I knew there was no going back from what the King was doing. So me, the Princess, ran away. I ran away. I am the runaway Princess."

A tear rolled down Magnolia's cheek, "And I'm sorry for whatever the King did to harm you or your family. I know an apology doesn't do much, but it's all I can give you."

"And... You guys should just bring me back to the castle. Maybe it's what's best. In the end, it's the most sensible option, and I realize that now." Magnolia stood up, smoothing out her dress and walking away from the fire. She walked a half mile out, leaning against a tree. She figured the others knew by now she wasn't going to run away from them, regarding her last statement.

She wiped her eyes furiously, resting her head against the tree and staring up at the stars. She listened to the sound of her steady breathing, trying to hold the peaceful moment for as long as she could.

A strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her back so hard she lost her breath for a few seconds. She whipped her head towards the man, finding an unfamiliar face smiling down at her. She cringed, trying to get out of his strong hold.

"HELP!" Magnolia screamed, just as the man wrapped his greasy hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened in fear as the man wrapped her arms behind her back and tugged her along with himself. She screamed again, and the word that came out of her mouth was Archer's. But she knew she was only creating a muffled noise through his hand.

The man pulled out a knife, "Quit making noise, Princess."

She struggled in his grip, forcing herself out of his arms. She fell into the ground, "HELP!"

She quickly stood up, the man darting after her, tackling her to the ground. His knife slit through one of the sleeves of her dress, blood seeping out of the wound.



Dakota heard the piercing scream immediately, spinning his head in the direction Magnolia staggered off into. Archer stood up, looking at Dakota. "What is it?" He asked.

Dakota didn't answer, just sprinted into the woods. Archer ran after him, "Dakota, what is it?"

Dakota stopped abruptly, raising his hand for Archer to stop. Archer halted, eyes spinning around them, trying to figure out what's going on. He started to build up anxiety, scared for Magnolia's safety. Dakota bent down and picked up a black piece of fabric. It was covered in wet dark blood, and Archer knew immediately.

"MAGGIE!" He shouted, heart racing. Dakota reached over and slammed his hand over Archer's mouth.

"If you want to get the Princess back, you're going to have to calm down." Dakota's deep voice whispered as he dropped his hand. He handed Archer the fabric, walking silently forward.

Archer bit his lip in worry, following closely. Dakota and Archer stopped, hearing a faint whimper, and they both recognized it as Magnolia. Dakota held a finger to his lips, motioning for Archer to be quiet. They approached slowly, peeking around a large trunk of a tree.

A man was holding Magnolia against himself, her mouth gagged with a cloth. Blood was running down her arm, her eyes wide with fear. Her hair was tangled behind her, and the man dragged her towards two other men.

"I got her, boys." He spoke to them and they both examined her. Magnolia shivered at the way they were looking at her and Archer folded his hands into fists.

"Wow, living on her own for five years didn't change a thing about her complexion that's for sure." One of the men smirked as the other chuckled at his remark.

Archer clenched his jaw, "That's it, I'm going to rip their-"

"Don't be stupid. They're twice the size of you." Dakota growled.

"What do you know about strategy? All you know is kill, kill, and kill. You never plan a thing." Archer shot back.

"I have a plan, genius."

"And what is that?" Archer rolled his eyes, not taking them off Magnolia.

Dakota shrugged, smirking, "Kill."

He took a step into view, all men turning to look at him. He darted after the two idiots, tackling the first and plunging his fist into his jaw. He stood up, looking straight into the end of a long, sharp sword. Dakota ripped the blade from the man's hold, kicking the man in the stomach and shooting both idiots in the head. Blood dripped from his hand, but he didn't care.

Dakota then focused the gun on the man holding Magnolia. The man smiled, "Shoot me."

The man held Magnolia up against himself, using her as a shield. If he shot the man, he would have to shoot Magnolia too. Dakota bit his lip, closing one eye as he pulled the trigger. Magnolia jumped in fear, as the hold on herself loosened. She turned slowly, finding the bullet had just missed her and hit the man in the shoulder. He was now trying to stop the bleeding but Magnolia knew better than that. He was obviously going to bleed to death. Archer ran up and hugged Magnolia, running a hand through her hair, "Are you okay?"

She nodded into his shoulder, reminded of her bleeding arm. Archer released her ties and embraced her again, running a hand through her long hair.

"You came." Magnolia sighed in relief, taking a step back and looking at Dakota.

"Um, you okay?" Dakota stuttered, his eyes actually showing signs of care.

"Thank you." She told him, and he nodded in response. He tucked the gun into his holster, and began walking back to the camp without another word. Archer took Magnolia's hand in his, "Don't wander off like that again, okay?"

"Okay." She sighed.

They reached the fire, and Archer pulled up her sleeve, placing pressure onto the bleeding. Magnolia gasped in pain, and he murmured a sad sorry before tying a cloth around it forcefully. His hand lingered on her skin, "You good?"

She nodded, tasting the rich flavor of blood in her mouth.



"What would you do?" Archer asked suddenly, confusing Magnolia.

"What?" She asked, turning her head in his direction.

Archer hesitated, "What would you do if you were free to do whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted, without anyone to stop you?"

"I haven't thought about it," That was a lie, of course. She always dreamed of being free, without having to always glance over her shoulder in fear, "What about you?"

"I would ride a ferris wheel." He said, like it was obvious. Magnolia almost snorted, and then stopped herself, realizing she almost just... laughed. She sighed, biting her lip.

"I have a question, Maggie." Archer ran a hand through his spiky hair, eyes relaxing on her. She turned toward him, her hair falling down the side of her shoulder. The moonlight shone on her just right, Archer could see her bright blue eyes searching his for answers.

"What is going to take for you to smile?" He grinned and Magnolia turned back to the fire. She sighed, not expecting it. She planted her face in her hands, rubbing viciously.

"I don't know, Archer. Something amazing, I guess."

"I'm not amazing enough?" He joked, cracking another smile. Magnolia watched the smile fade from his lips, wondering if she was even able to do it anymore. She scooted towards him for warmth, huddling her head into his shoulder. He placed his head on top of hers, "I will get that smile, Maggie. Someday."

Magnolia was willing to let him try.



Dakota's stomach growled as he leaned against a large tree. He watched Slate and River mess with the old radio, trying to see how many stations that would come through. Every time a new one came on with a clear song, River's eyes would widen and her smile would brighten at Slate, amazed. It was cute, and Slate encouraged it.

Brylee noticed Dakota and walked over, pulling her long dark hair into a ponytail. She itched her collarbone above her black tank top, craning her neck to read Dakota's expressions.

He looked down at her, raising his tired brown eyes. Brylee stared into them, and he looked away.

"What do you want?" He growled, gazing at the fire. Brylee grabbed one of his crossed arms, itching down to his hand, "Come on."

Her expression looked daring, even dangerous. He grunted, letting her drag him a little before remembering the last time someone held his hand. This wasn't right, didn't feel right. He yanked his hand back out of her grip, shaking his head. He turned, walking away.

"Oh, come on, Kota." Brylee whined, forcing herself to follow him.

"Don't call me that." He groaned, rubbing his forehead with his right hand.

"When are you going to get out of that head of yours and realize there's more to life than being stubborn?" Brylee grabbed his upper arm, turning him back towards herself.

"Don't touch me." He pulled himself away from her, charging away from everyone.

"Hey dude, you okay?" Phoenix shouted, noticing Dakota as he climbed a tree. Phoenix got up and climbed after him.

"Hey Dakota, don't worry about Brylee, she's just looking for attention. Her past kind of forced her to be that kind of person." Phoenix said, jumping a branch to reach Dakota. He sat down next to him, who hadn't sat down, and won't.

It was dead silent for a few minutes before Dakota spoke up, "It's not her. It's me."

Phoenix nodded understandably, closing his eyes.

"Alright man, you can stay up here for as long as you want but I need to go check on River. Just don't be too hard on yourself." Phoenix ran a hand through his thick blonde hair before jumping down the tree and reaching River.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to look at him. "You okay?" He asked, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, why?" She asked, looking up at him like he was insane for asking that question.

"Do I need an excuse for checking up on my little sister?" Phoenix asked.

"No, I guess not." She shrugged, standing up. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her close.