'Take a look around you. What do you see?' An old man asked with a quiet and hushed tone. Only I could hear it as we stood at the top of the hill, staring out towards the land. 

'I see.. madness and pain.' After speaking, I lowered my head. I felt sorry for all the people who were attacked, even though we had been attacked too. A burning passion to help was always inside of me, but I'd never been able to use it. At this rate, we would be the only free humans left. 

'Is that all you see?' The man sat in the short grass, gesturing for me to join him. Slowly, I took a seat beside him with a heavy sigh.

'Yes father. That is all I see. I see hurt people. Children calling for their family's as the get taken away to slavery.' I bowed my head, refusing myself to shed any tears. It was a hard time for us people, especially with the giant's finally taking over. 

I grimaced at the thought of the stores filled with kids, teens, and adults of all ages being sold to all of those nasty, greedy beings. Such horror stories could be told from those that escaped, yet even they don't stay free much longer.

'Well.. I see a beautiful sunset, Jewel. The sun will always rise again, even if the night becomes long.' 

I turned to see my father staring at the fading light, a gentle smile lighting his face. With another heavy sigh, I laid down on my back. He was far too positive.. especially now.

After a few seconds of pure quiet bliss, my father leaned back into the grass beside me. He still had that gentle smile on his face when he turned to face me.

'No matter how difficult life will get, we will always have each other. That's all we need. Just us two, fighting the causes and venturing in the wild like wild animals. Nothing could ever stop us.' I smiled at his comment as he smiled at me still.

'I'll never leave you, dad.'

~~

The sharp sound of a bell struck me out of sleep and causing me to sit straight up in the wood chips. I turned and glared at the noisemaker, seeing as the store door closed with another solid ring.

'Herco's Trusted Petstore' was open and the first customer had rolled in.

I rolled my eyes, crawling deeper into my small cave, hoping to find some peace and quiet. I wanted to finish my dream, the same one I had been having every night,for two and a half years. 

Curling up under the wood shavings, I heard the bell ring a few more times and as if right on queue, loud glass taps came from the front of my cage.

"Mommy?! Why can't I see anything in here??" A very young 'monster' was being very obnoxious as he whined. His fingers constantly tapped against the glass, giving me an instant migraine.

"It seems to be hiding.. Its name is Rusty. What an awful name.." The 'mother' of this young beast sneered as if to provoke me, but luckily to me I was already broke a long time ago. Nothing 'provokes' me anymore.. except of course those annoying high schoolers. They always come straight to my cage, 12 o'clock sharp just to bug the living daylights outta me. Which is why, I decided to try to sleep again. They'd be around soon.

I listened carefully as the woman and her child huffed away, clearly giving up trying to get me out. Gratefully, I covered myself with more shavings. Maybe it would block out the noise. Luckily, It helped a bit, but not as much as I had hoped.

Now.. as I lay there underneath my mound of wood, I began to think of a strategy to get rid of the four kids. Which was.. impossible, but at least it was giving me something to think about.

They aren't the most difficult to handle for the most part, but something about the tallest aggravates me to my core.

Their names are Finn, Erik, Daxon, and.. Well.. I don't know the last one's name. He was the tallest out of them all, doesn't normally talk and always wears a hoodie of some origin. He was the most annoying..

Finn was the 'funniest' according to Erik, but Erik is just as much of an ass as Finn was. They are brothers, nonetheless.. possibly twins if I could guess. They are the representative of clowns, but they don't make anyone laugh except for themselves. They are an odd two.

Daxon is probably the most talkative and prying. He normally is the one to bring me out of my small cave, but that's only because he taps the glass constantly and loudly. If I were to ignore him, he'd bang on it louder until he asks the manager to take out my 'house'. That's one of the main reasons I can't stand them.. 

And as I mentioned before.. the kid of which I do not recall his name is the most annoying, lonely looking, emo teen, I have ever gosh darn crossed paths with.

I just sighed and sat up, knocking off each and ever wood piece off of me. It had only been a few seconds before the door opened, ringing the bell. With perceptive ears and not hearing the door close for a few moments, I grimaced. They were back.

"Ey.. Sunshine. Wake up." A very, very  sarcastic voice spoke. Then came the soft tapping on the glass. I rolled my eyes, groggily crawling to the entrance of my cave and peeped my head out.

I was confronted with the gang who, for the most part, were staring down at me with wide grins. Except for that tall one.. he just stared at me with no readable expression. 

Erik waved at me jokingly, then Finn snickered. 

"Guess who's going to college with us?!" Daxon's cheerful voice panged me in the chest. He hadn't meant me.. had he? I felt myself crawl back and from the corner of my eye, I noticed No-Name-Kid's face change to a hint of concern.

"Aw.. Rusty. Don't be like that." Finn whined, standing to full height. Erik just shrugged and started texting or doing something on his phone.

"It'll be better than this cage, ya know." I felt my ears perk up and my eyebrows scrunch up. Instantly, I crawled out of my hiding spot and faced the No-Name-Kid. I felt the urge to begin yelling angry words towards him, but seeing how everyone else was staring at me.. I backed up again. 

I felt embarrassment flood me as the watched me, confusion and some other unreadable expression in their eyes. 

Quickly I turned back to the small cave structure and started to run towards it, but I was swept off of my feet by an employee and placed in a box. Soon after, my previous cave home was set in beside me before the box was closed.

Fear gripped me by the sides and instantly I crawled into the 'house', holding myself with my shaking arms.

Eventually, I was handed to another 'being', who held the box more gently that the employee.. but that didn't take my mind off of the sudden change of things. In an attempt to hide further in my home, I grabbed the wood chips around me and made myself a safe mound again.

"Can't I just peek in.. say hello? Ya know.. being friendly and all." Daxon seemed to press on, which definitely meant he wasn't holding onto the box. I was kinda glad it wasn't him.. It would be him or Erik who would drop me. 

"No. We have to buy her first." Finn's voice cut in, but it was a little farther away than I thought it was. 

"Will that be all for you today?" A female character spoke in a half rushed voice. It was definitely the cashier lady.. Always been a grouch.

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." No-Name finally chirped up, but at this point, I was too nervous to be annoyed at his chill tone. I wanted to further cover myself, but the constant movement made it difficult.

Regardless, the gang of teens seemed to make their way out of the building and into a vehicle of some sort. 

"How about now?" Daxon asked, nearly pleading. There was a heavy sigh, almost as if they were annoyed.

"Sure. No touching her though." No-Name ordered, causing me to flare with annoyance again. Who does he think he is?? I don't really know why I get so angry at him.. it's just his voice. I guess.

"Of course, madam. Would you like me to make you some tea too? Miss Jasper?" The box was handed roughly to obviously Daxon and almost instantly light broke in from the top.

"Wow. You sure like that little cave of yours huh." Daxon joked, gently lifting my hedge of protection away. 

I couldn't help but back up into a corner of the box and stare up into Daxon's soft green eyes. He simply smiled before setting the cave on the opposite side of the box, knowing full well I wasn't going to move.

"You're a very cute little human aren't you? Don't worry though. You are safe with us." His smile seemed to widen as he spoke, his eyes still staring at me.

Very slowly, Daxon began to reach his hand towards me, almost as if to pet me, but I quickly scampered away into my little home. I laid in the chips, trying to slow my heart rate and even out my nervous and shaky breaths.

Daxon just laughed and closed the box, setting it on his lap as the drive continued.

Safe, huh? These guys seemed untrustworthy.. but maybe they were. I guess I'd find out sooner or later..

To be continued~

(maybe)

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