Wendy kicked and beat against the bars of her cage for hours, desperately trying to somehow escape before Faust returned and killed her. She still couldn't believe how monstrous her uncle was. To kill his own brother and now planning to kill her, did this man have no soul? Well whether he did or not, one thing was sure, he had every intention of ending her life, that she could tell by his eyes. But Wendy had decided that she was going to die today or any time soon.

"Come on." She said now attempting to pry the bars open. "I just need you to open a little."

Unfortunately she wasn't strong enough to perform such an act. So far none of her attempts to escape this cage had worked. The situation was starting to look hopeless. But then as if by a miracle, she could see a rock the size of her hand just a few spaces away from the cage. If she could just reach it, then she could use it to break the lock and escape.

She stuck her arm through the bars and stretched it toward the rock. She reached and strained her arm with her all her might, it hurt terribly but she just had to get that rock. She just had to, it was her only chance. Her entire life depended on if her hand could reach that seemingly insignificant rock. At long last her fingers were able to graze the hard surface and with a little tap to bring it closer, she could finally grab it with her whole hand. 

Acting quick, she beat and bashed that rock against the lock, not stopping once, not even when she accidentally hit her fingers in the process. It hurt terribly but it was nothing compared to the girl's fate should she fail to get out of this cage. Finally she hit the lock just right and it fell to the ground. She shoved the cage open and bolted out of there like a rabbit who's hole had been flooded by a rainstorm.  

Now she was free but where was she going to go? She couldn't go home because her uncle was there. And as much as she loved the jungles and the savannas, she couldn't just couldn't go live there. She didn't know how to survive out in the wild alone. Sure she had been trying to learn how to do so but she had not learned enough yet. What in the world was she going to do?

"Well looky here." She heard a familiar voice say. "It seems the canary has gotten out of her cage."

She turned around to find Ajeel and Dimaria looking down at her.

"Oh thank goodness you're here!" She said. "It's just terrible! Faust is trying to kill me! And he killed my father too! You have to help me!"

"Oh we'll help you alright." Ajeel said with a malicious grin and sneer at the same time. "We'll help you set up a very nice burial for yourself."

"What?!" 

"Sorry little girl." Dimaria said. "But we agree with your uncle, you leading this tribe is a mistake that must be prevented, for the good of the tribe."

Wendy didn't hesitate a moment longer. She took off running, her heart pounding and her breathing heavy. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't be. First her uncle was trying to kill her and now two of the sub-chiefs, who else was in on this conspiracy to assassinate her? Was everyone she ever trusted a traitor?

Ajeel and Dimaria chased after the girl but they had underestimated how good of a runner she was. A fast and agile little thing she was, racing further away from them and climbing up slopes and ledges with ease. She was almost like a cheetah and monkey merged into one. But the two traitors weren't going to give up just yet. If Faust found out that she had escaped that they knew about it and didn't stop her or more specifically kill her, then they would be dead meat. 

"She can't run and climb forever." They both thought.

And their thoughts were proven true when she attempted to get away by climbing the skeleton of an elephant but the weak bones gave way and she fell right into a corner. Ajeel and Dimaria closed in on her, producing a hunting knife and a spear, they had her trapped like a rat now. 

"Help!" Wendy cried out trembling. "Please! Somebody help me!"

"Scream all you want! No one can hear you!" Ajeel taunted. "Now if you don't fight us, we promise to make this as quick and painless as possible!"

Wendy had never been so scared in her entire life. She thought that there was absolutely no escape. That she really was going to die in that moment. That she was never going to see the sun or the jungle or savannas again. That she was never going to see the animals again. That she was never going to see Grandeeney, Jellal, Macao, or Romeo again. She closed her eyes and started to cry.

But apparently fate, the spirits, the gods, or just God or whoever held power over the universe, had also decided that Wendy wasn't going to die today. Because in that exact moment, just as Ajeel's knife was a mere inches away from the girl's flesh, an arrow was suddenly fired into his side. He hissed in pain and that pain increased when a powerful fist punched him so hard in the head that he was knocked back from Wendy.

"What the hell is this?!" Dimaria asked.

She got her answer when something dropped down on her the horrible woman and started to pull and yank at her hair.

"Ahh! Get off me you little beast!"

"Not on your life lady! Try to drown me and then try to kill my best friend! I'm going to pluck you bald!"

Wendy knew that voice instantly. She opened her eyes and a relief unlike any other washed over her when she saw Jellal beating Ajeel while Romeo was on Dimaria's back, jerking out strands of her hair and clawing at her face. Eventually Dimaria was able to throw him off but Jellal responded by throwing Ajeel into her. Afterward, he picked up both children and started to run. 

Ajeel and Dimaria chased him all the way to a steep ledge which led into a flat plain and at the very bottom was a thorny grove. Jellal looked down at the the grove, it was so sharp and prickly, he could already feel the intense pain that would come from those thorns scratching his skin. It made him shiver and seethe. But then he looked down at his little brother and the girl he swore to protect, their faces painted with great fear over whether or not they would get out of this alive.

He held them both to his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around them.

"Brace yourselves!" He warned, causing Romeo and Wendy to hold each other's hands and close their eyes. Jellal then jumped from the ledge, rolling uncontrollably down to the bottom while using his body to shield the two children from the impact and the thorns. When he finally stopped rolling, the children were perfectly unharmed but he had sustained a large number of scratches and cuts.

"Ah!" He groaned sitting up.

"Are you okay?" Romeo asked. 

"Nevermind me! Just run! Run!"

He and Wendy did as they were told and he followed after them. They ran and climbed all around the grove. Ajeel and Dimaria had jumped after them from the same ledge but when they saw that they were heading toward sharp thorns they immediately put a stop on the chase. Dimaria was able to dig in her heels quick enough, Ajeel wasn't so lucky. He went shooting right into the grove.

"Eeeeyiiike!" He screeched jumping out of that grove covered in thorns. "Yike-yike-yike! Ow-ooo-eee!"

Dimaria thought this was hilarious and started to laugh. 

"Shut up!" He spat pulling himself up.

Then she spotted Jellal and the children slipping out of the grove and running out into the open land.

"Hey!" She pointed. "There they go! There they go!"

"So go get them!" Ajeel said attempting to pick the thorns out of his skin.

"There ain't no way I'm going in there." She refused. "What, you want me to come out looking like you? Cactus-butt."

"But we can't just let them get away."

"Why not? They is good as dead out there anyway. They've got nowhere else go, they're too young to survive out there alone, and it's not like they can just go to another realm. They're done for out there."

"So what do we tell Faust?"

"We'll tell him that we fed the brat to the crocodiles."

"Good idea." Ajeel said thinking it over. "And there's no way either one of them will ever come back. That girl is too much of a coward and Jellal is a wanted man. Faust's place as chief is finally secure."

With that agreement made, the two sub-chiefs left and returned to give Faust the news. Or rather their version of the news. As for Wendy, Romeo, and Jellal, they didn't stop running until they ran out of breath and it hurt to move. They rested in some tall grass which had a bed of jungle moss in the center. A perfect place to sleep for the night. The moss was soft enough to serve as mattress and the tall grass would keep them out of sight. For now they were safe. 

"Traitors!" Jellal spat. "Heathens! Demons! Those two will pay for this! Mark my words!"

"Wendy are you alright?" Romeo said once he was able to catch his breath.

"Did they hurt you?" Jellal asked, bending down and checking her for injuries. 

"No." She said trying to keep herself from crying again but it was a useless attempt.

"What happened Wendy?" He asked her. "What's going on here?"

"It was my uncle." She sobbed. "He said that he wanted to kill me and that he killed my father!"

"I knew it!" Jellal said disgusted. "I always knew it! From the very moment I found your father's body! I knew he did it! The bastard!"

"Now what do we do?" Romeo asked. "Do we go back? Do we tell the other sub-chiefs?"

"No." Jellal said. "We can't go back. Not now. Not until we know for certain who we can trust and who we can't. While I always suspected Faust was a traitorous wretch, it never occurred to me that his treachery would spread as far as the other sub-chiefs. Until further notice, we must leave this realm."

"But where are we going to go?" Wendy asked. "None of the other realms will welcome us. They're all bitter enemies to us and each other."

"There is one realm that will give us shelter. The Magnolia Nation. They never participated in the war and they harbored nothing but peace toward all the realms. We'll hide their until we can come up with a plan."

"A plan to do what?" 

"I don't know yet. But I'll think of something. I promise. For now, let's just get some sleep. We leave first thing in the morning."

But Jellal wouldn't sleep that night. He would stay awake and watch over Romeo and Wendy, making sure that never again, either one of them would be put in harm's way again. He might have been foolish to take on a challenge like this. Look after two young children with a rebellious streak when he was now a fugitive would not be easy and would get him into a lot of trouble. But Romeo was his family and so was Wendy despite the fact that they weren't blood. Not to mention he had a promise to keep. So he would take up the challenge and nothing would convince him to give it up. Nothing.