Another wonderful story by guestsurprise, who owns Cassie. I only own Rachel and gave guestsurprise full permission to use her. Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action.


The Forest Guardians

Well, the age of the aliens were gone. Most people on Earth believed that aliens no longer existed. Why? Because of an agreement between Earth and the galactic leaders. Now that Earth was seemingly no longer under threat from Alien invasion, the galactic leaders agreed that all aliens should leave Earth and return to their planets. Many of the aliens did not want to leave, but they knew it was for the best since they too missed their planets.

That was 400 years ago.

Most of the alien species were never heard from again so many people believed that they had died out. The only information anyone had of them was about the great friendships the aliens and people used to have.

"Gosh…I still wish they existed," Rachel thought. She was then gently pushed on her shoulder by the teacher. She lived in an orphanage, but not for much longer. She was planning to escape later that night, but not without her good friend, Cassie. Cassie may have been young but she was a great friend and she had the personality to match!

"Still on for tonight," Cassie whispered.

"Of course; meet me by the old oak tree," Rachel smiled. Cassie winked and gave her a nudge.

"I won't forget the lemon squares," Cassie smiled. Cassie always got them extra special treats from the kitchen since she knew those were Rachel's favorites! Rachel smiled and then took one last look around the orphanage.

"I am not gonna miss this place; I want to be free!" She whispered. And little did she know, she was in for a great adventure!

2 hours later…

Cassie was slowly creeping down the stairs and heading out the back door and Rachel was already down the stairs waiting for her. They were supposed to meet by the tree, but she wanted to be inside just in case Cassie needed reinforcements.

"Ready to go?" Rachel whispered.

"Yes! Where are we going?"

"Well, a friend of mine lives out in the country and he has a place where we can hide out for a while. When we get there, I will find a suitable job and you will be enrolled in a school there!"

"Hey! Why do I have to go to school?" Cassie huffed, still whispering.

"Because if you don't, it will look suspicious. We need to lay low; I will be turning 18 in a few months but until then we need to find a place to lay low."

Cassie smiled and nodded in agreement, ready to get away from the headmistress! They both slowly crept towards the door and turned the knob. The knob let out a terrible squeak that made both girls cringe!

"Hurry! Go!" Rachel whispered. And both girls hurried out the door with only their knapsacks and the clothes on their backs. They hurried out into the night and they took off down the road. It was going to be a long night but they were ready for a taste of freedom and happiness! Now all they needed was the bus fare to their country hideaway.

"I don't know if we have enough," Rachel whispered.

"Then let's hitch a ride!" Cassie smiled. They walked up to the bus station and looked around the place. No one seemed to be going to the high hills except for an elderly man. He smiled warmly at the young ladies and told them that he would not mind at all if they hitched a ride on his hay wagon.

"But I hafta warn ya! It gets windy back there."

"We'll be ok!" Rachel smiled. "Thank you for the lift!"

"Ya'll sure you will be alright. I can only take ya part of tha way." He said as he chewed his tobacco.

"We are alright with that," Rachel responded confidently. After a few minutes of packing up, they were all ready to go. As the truck began to run and the girls felt the breeze on their faces, they truly felt nothing but freedom. Freedom to go wherever they wanted and wherever they pleased. But they had to have a plan; they knew that the orphanage leaders would come looking for them!

"We have to stay on our toes," Rachel whispered.

"I know. I just wish we could just disappear and go somewhere where no one knows us," Cassie whispered back.

"That's why we are going to the country," Rachel giggled as she gave her friend a playful poke.


Three hours later…

The tired girls said goodbye to the nice man and began to walk on foot towards their house. It technically was not "their house" but they would call it home for now. At least until Rachel could begin to make payments on it. The girls walked further and further up the muddy road until they saw an old house that was standing alone, almost hidden by the large trees that surrounded it. But those trees were not nearly as large as the tallest and largest tree of all! A large evergreen; the largest evergreen they had ever seen!

"The house looks a bit scary," Cassie whispered.

"I know, but there is no reason to fear. We will be fine. It's perfect! My friend lives a few miles down the road and we can always stop by and ask him for help if need be."

"What about driving or having a car?"

"Sorry, Cass. We will have to either ride a bicycle or walk." Rachel smiled softly.

"That's alright! As long as I'm here with my awesome best friend!" Cassie smiled. She and Rachel hugged and then they walked up to their new house. The house was definitely old-fashioned and there was a lot of cobwebs, but the girls were unfazed.

"Let's start cleaning!" Rachel grinned widely. Cassie nodded and they both sat their bags down and prepared to work! As they began the work, they heard something that sounded like a whistle on the wind. Cassie looked around and Rachel did too, but there was nothing there. They were a bit nervous; the whistle sounded different from any other whistles they've ever heard. It almost had a sense of magic to it. But before they could comment, they heard a knock on the door. Rachel answered it and saw an old man with a basket of fruit.

"Welcome to Forestglen. I'm ya neighbor."

"Thank you! Mr. uh…"

"Call me John!"

"I am happy to meet you John."

"Glad to see the ol' place hasn't scared ya!" He chuckled.
"Scared?"

"Yes. You all are living in the Forest Guardians' home. I seen them ya know. Especially the leader. No one believes me though."

"Forest Guardians?" Cassie asked.

"They won't harm ya if ya aren't here ta cause trouble. The leader is a fearsome beast, but he can be tame if he feels like it."

"BEAST?!" Cassie gasped as she backed up, but Rachel caught her by her shoulders.

"Cassie, now calm down, hon. There is nothing to be afraid of. There are no beasts."

"Ah don't go bein' scared. They won't hurt ya if y'all are nice folk. If anything, you may not see em."

"Why is that?" Rachel said, refusing to believe fairy tales.

"Because they only show themselves when they feel like it."

"Ah, I see…," Rachel said, still not believing it at all.

"Well I gotta be goin. I would stay awake if I waz you! They may stop by tonight and take a look at ya!" John laughed as he walked out into the night. Cassie and Rachel both gulped, but Rachel shrugged it off.

"Now no need to be scared; let's get ready for bed." Rachel smiled.

"O-ok," Cassie said, still feeling scared. As they prepared for bed, there was another deep whistle that was heard over the trees.


guestsurprise's words: This is a story that I am making for you, Goldie, as a thank you for taking all of our requests and being such a great buddy! Hope you like the suspense so far? ;)

To guestsurprise: I'm loving it so far! And I think their 'neighbor' has a bit more to him than meets the eye. ;) I can't wait to see what happens next! :)

To everyone else: Please leave guestsurprise a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418