Prologue

Both of the tribes were at peace. Trading, throwing parties, they never disagreed. That was twenty years ago. The princess of the Hious tribe was being coronated into the throne. There was a massive festival, to which they invited their sister tribe, the Atovas, for a celebration. There was laughing and dancing and singing and happiness all around. That didn't last long. The chief of the Atova Tribe had too much to drink and was offered a bed for the night. After the coronation, the princess was found dead in her room. She had been murdered. The castle was searched for anything and everything vaguely suspicious. The Atova chief was found with a bloody knife in his room. The chief, Stolman, was taken on trial immediately. He denied everything, saying he would never kill his friend's daughter, and didn't remember anything from the party. The princess's father, Sodux, didn't believe him. Sodux, being the ruler of the Hious tribe, waged a great war on the Atovas. The war raged on for many years. Stolman, being the coward he was, barely fought back, sending small armies, refusing to be very beneficial to his country. And so, the Hious tribe and seized the throne of their once 'sister city'. Now the remaining Atovas hide in the wilderness, fighting for survival against the harsh cruelty of the elements. The tribes lived on an island, making escape nearly impossible for the Atovas. They were hiding, in fear that the king's guards would capture them and take them back to the castle, awaiting God knows what. It's been twenty years since then. Dan was only three when it happened. Sometimes he wished things could be different, that he wouldn't have to constantly run for his life, always hiding from the Hious. But Dan was an Atova. And this was his life.

A/N: Basically, if you want know some things before the story begins, the people from the Atova Tribe are hiding from capture and sometimes form 'camps' where a group of people hide out together. Dan isn't in a camp, he's a loner. The people from each tribe are told apart because of birthmarks on the top of their right shoulder. The Hious have a lightning- like thing, and the Atova's have a snake-ish looking one! I'm kind of writing this at like 5 a.m cause I got hit by the bus of inspiration, so uh.. here we go. Please keep in mind that I am writing this on the fly with no plot line whatsoever than what you just read up there.. so yeah! I hope you enjoy, reviews make me happy ^.^ and I love you! ENjOY!

Chapter One

I woke up, stretching and standing up from my bed made of pine straw and wool. There was a knock at my door. I wasn't afraid of who it was, for the knock consisted of three slaps and two fists on the rough wood, the code between me and my most trustworthy friends. I opened the secret wooden plank that couldn't be recognized as a door unless you were looking for an unknown entrance in the trees. When the war had started, my dad was forced to go into the army. Knowing what would eventually happen, He made a secret house in the tree that led to an underground 'cabin'. I was only thirteen, and he died shortly after the war ended in a brutal attack. My mother was killed then too. Now, it was just me, fighting for survival. My father had taught me many good survival tricks and fighting skills. I shook my head, trying to clear my head of those thoughts. That was not important right now. Opening the door, I found my friend, Carrie. She stood there for a second, then stepped in.
"Hi." I said. She nodded. Carrie was an extremely talented woman. She could be kidnapped and get away with all the guards dead on the floor. One second she's tied down, the next she's escaped to the trees. Almost catlike.
"I just finished cooking some chicken, would you like some soup?" I said. Whilst I had slept, I had forgotten about the broth that was boiling on the fire. Thankfully, nothing drastic had happened.
"Cooking meat is dangerous. The dogs might smell it," was her reply. She was serious most of the time, but nice and cheerful when she opened up.
"Oh, please. That doesn't matter," I scoffed. "Even if the dogs did smell it, those guards are too stupid to find this place."
"That's what you think." She paused. "And what I thought."
Carrie often brought me the news, considering she was in the best camp and the fact that she could jump from tree top to tree top without so much as blowing a leaf out of place.
"Oh?" I said. "And what made change your mind?" She took a sip of her soup.
"Two camps have been found and taken."
"Oh, that's nothing big. Most of those camps out there are run by children who don't even know what they're doing!"
"Like you?"
"I don't, and will never, run a camp." I shook my head. Carrie knew what I thought about camps. Even if you were the best of survivalists, joining a camp was a bad idea. You had to fend for others, and if one person made a mistake, all of the members would suffer. Camps were usually made above ground, making them easy targets for the guards. I was a loner, and always would be. She was a member of a camp. Not one of the stupid frilly ones that would let anyone join and would fall like the rest. Hers was for the elite and strong alone, and would often seek out opportunities to fight with guards, ready to take on anything. She constantly was asking me to join. I always declined.
"So how'd they get caught this time? Lighting a fire at night out in the open? Or were they searching around guard territory in broad daylight?" I asked dryly and sarcastically.
"No, Dan. One of them...one of them was Ben's camp."
"What!?" I dropped my spoon. Ben was a close friend of mine. He had started a camp, using so many precautions. They lived underground. How did the guards find out about them? "So Ben is.." I couldn't finish my sentence.
"I'm afraid so," She whispered. It stung. It wasn't the first time I'd lost someone. I'd lost my good friend Jack. His twin brother Finn had escaped, but Jack hadn't. You'd think that the number of times it's happened, I would be used to it, but it always hurt. When they got you, the only time to escape was when you were being driven in those big wooden trucks to the castle. Once you made it there, there was no hope. No one ever came out. Dead or not, they weren't seen again.
"Is that all that's happened?" I asked, wiping the emotion off my face.
"No. You know how safe Ben was. How he would never do anything that had a risk and no gain? Well, the guards are starting to catch on to our plans. They've started drilling holes into the dirt, searching for anything hollow."
"Oh no." My hand flew to my mouth and hovered in front of it shakily. "Who else have they found?"
"No one else we know, just another camp. Eleven people in total. Dan, you're not safe here. You should really join m-" I cut her off.
"Carrie. I know you really want me to. But I don't think I can." She sighed.
"Alright, but never be afraid to come to us. You know where we are, right?" I nodded. Maps were to dangerous to have in case it fell into enemy hands, so I had burned the trail to her camp into my brain.
"Please tell me we have some good news."
"No..it gets even worse."
"Worse?"
"Yeah...they've started cutting down the forest. The big tree that overlooks the entire tribe territory...it's gone."
"Gone?" I couldn't believe it. That tree had been there for hundreds of years. It was where the Atova Tribe leaders had first camped. It was directly in the center of their territory. "How could they desecrate our land like that?!"
"It's not our land anymore."
"It'll be our land no matter what they do."
"Dan. Listen. This is how it is now. If you want to help fight against it-"
"No. I'm not joining!" I yelled. Carrie looked down at the floor. I could tell I had hurt her feelings. "Carrie..." I said, feeling ashamed at my outburst.
"No no, it's okay." I could tell it wasn't. She wasn't upset about what I had said, there was something else, something that had been underlying the whole conversation.
"Carrie." I put my arms on her shoulders. "What are you not telling me?" She started to cry.
"It's...it's Charlie." She said through the sobs.
"Did he...was he captured?" Charlie was her boyfriend. They had been together for almost a year now. They seemed so close, even though I had never met him. She talked about him a lot.
"No, well...yes, but not recently.." Her voice trailed off. I was confused.
"What do you mean?" I felt like I had to tread lightly. Carrie was usually so strong, I had never actually seen her break down like this. She looked up at me.
"About a year ago, I met him, and we...I thought we had fallen in love. He had the birthmark," She pointed to her right shoulder, "Meaning he was an Atova, so I thought he was trustworthy. Yesterday, he said we were going on a special date, but.." Another deep sob.
"It's okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"No no, I'm fine. I can, I'll need to tell my camp members soon anyway. I'll be fine." I nodded for her to continue. "It was a trap." My eyes went wide. A traitor? Charlie had betrayed Carrie?
"No," I muttered in disbelief. "Oh, Carrie.."
"I barely made it out. They had been waiting in the bushes. He brought me to the lake, and they...they jumped out and threw a sack over my head. I barely made it out," she repeated. "Charlie was promised by the chief, that..that if he caught me, he could be free. He had been captured a year and a half ago."
"Carrie, I'm so sorry to hear about this." She nodded, her curly blonde hair bouncing up and down.
"No Dan, it's alright. I learned a lesson. The chief is 'promising' freedom to some Atovas if they bring us in. We can't trust anyone.."
"Wait...he was caught a year and half ago?" She nodded again. "That means.. they aren't killed straight away?" His thoughts went back to Ben. Could he still be alive?
"It seems like it."
"Hm.." I was deep in thought.
"But listen, Dan. Who can we trust now?"
"Do you trust everyone in your group?"
"Yes." She replied.
"You're sure?"
"Yes." She repeated. "Finn, Louise, Hazel, and Dean. They'd never betray us."
"Okay. And I can always trust you?"
"Of course." She smiled. "I should be getting back to my camp. It was nice seeing you again." She had resumed her serious, professional demeanor.
"You too," I said, and she nodded. I could hear the light rain beating on the roof. "You'd better stay. You know how bad it is to go out in the rain."
"I've endured much worse. It's just light rain."
"It won't be for long," I said, raising an eyebrow, and she knew I was right.
"I guess," she said as I pulled out an extra mat. I put it next to the oven, that being the warmest place, and went into my room.

We were woken up by loud noises coming from outside my underground cave. I bolted up. Guards. As quickly and quietly as I could I rushed over to Carrie. She was already awake, gathering her weapons, readying herself to fight.
"I'm going out there. They won't get away with this." She whispered.
"No," I hissed lightly. "There's at least..." I stopped to listen. "At least twelve of them out there. Sounds like they're chopping trees down. It's too dangerous."
"Too dangerous for me?" She smirked grabbing her pocket knife from my table.
"Yes." I said sternly. "I've got a plan, you sneak out through that hatch." I pointed at the ceiling. "It leads into a secret chamber into the leaves of this tree."
"You're coming with me"
"Yeah, yeah, I will, but I have to burn anything that would be helpful towards them." She nodded understandingly. "You go up and escape to your camp, tell them how close these guards are. If I am not with you in five...no, ten minutes, bring them all here and attack."
"Sounds like a plan." She said. I was about to help her reach the hatch, but she was so agile, she made it up there easily. "Be sure to bring your weapons," she whispered, but was then gone.
'Okay...what needs to be burned?" I thought desperately. I realized I had a book, filled with coordinates of camps. I'll need this, I'll bring it with me...but what if I got caught? There were seven camps marked on here. I couldn't let anyone find this, but it was too valuable to burn. I remembered the secret safe in the dirt my dad had installed. I reckoned that would be a good enough hiding place, at least until I could come back for it.
After burning a few things, and gathering some belongings, I was ready to go. It felt hard to leave this place. Hopefully, it wouldn't be chopped down. It was all I had left of my family, minus the necklace his mother had worn. I kept it securely around my neck, underneath my shirt, hugging my chest. I heard a knock on my door...not the code. Was it a guard, trying to tell if the tree was hollow? The door opened. I jumped behind the couch, the only logical hiding place I had access to at the moment. Under it, there was a secret trapdoor to the river. Could I move the couch silently? The door closed. Footsteps came closer. I peeked through a small hole in the sofa. I saw a guard, dressed in the bright red coat of the Hious guard. He had black hair hanging in a fringe and stunningly electric blue eyes that seemed almost familiar. They were absolutely beautiful...NO! What was I doing? Dan Howell does not fall for anyone, and certainly not the enemy. He had three simple rules:

1) Never give a guard what they wanted
2) Trust only who you know well
3) And never EVER fall in love

But this guard seemed...different, for some reason. He didn't call all his buddies who were outside, telling them about this discovery. He just stood there, taking everything in, as if he had just come home after a long vacation. That was impossible though. This was MY home. He looked about three or four years older than myself, and he was extremely beautiful. He then looked directly at the couch, scaring me a bit.
"Come on out." He whispered. Did he really think I would fall for that? Of course not. I could feel myself holding in my breath.
"Dan" He whispered. I froze. How did he know my name?
"Dan," He said again. "I'm not going to hurt you."
I shut my eyes, my mind going crazy. "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't find me!" I felt a hand on my shoulder.