Gypsy Song

Come and hear the tambourine—
Come and join the dance!

Spinning silks in shades of light
Velvet dark as shadowed night.

Gold and silver buy your future—
Pasteboard cards with faded ink.

Caravans by campfire glow
Keeping secrets gypsies know

Restlessly, we go our way
We were not meant for hearth or town.

Whirling dancers with eyes like jet
Centuries have not tamed us yet!

-Rie Sheridan Rose

Chapter 1: Curiosity Killed the Cat

Gypsy crept down the hallway of the hotel. She had to find out who this new tribe was that had recently invaded the city. She knew the huge risk she was taking by sneaking into their new headquarters but she was just so curious that she couldn't help it. As she peeked around the corner at the end of the hallway, she didn't notice to two men who had come out of the room across the hall. A pair of hands fell on her small sun-kissed shoulders making her jump slightly and let out yelp. The hands spun her around quickly and slammed her against the wall behind her. The iron masked man that held onto her racked his eyes up and down her body.

She wore a black velvet tube-top that only covered her small breast, attached the the top was multiple gold and diamond jewelry that trailed down to her belly-button, the pleated skirt she wore touched her ankles and tied low at the side of her hip and had gold stitching designed into it. It had a belt attached with gold coins that jingled as she moved, along with her multiple bracelets. Her long dark hair was braided to the side and it reached the lower part of her rib cage. The only markings on her face was a green vertical mark across her left eye as well as smaller one beside it. On her hands were black thin swirls and lines.

"What do we have here?" The man asked, but Gypsy just fought his grip instead. He pushed her back against the wall once again with a harsh glare in his eyes. "You are quite the little vixen." He commented, grabbing her by the chin looking her in eyes. He was about to say more but was cut off by his comrade, who had been forgotten until now.

"We should probably take her to Ram." He lifted his hand up to is ear and spoke something into the mic that was attached to the mask he wore. He nodded his head after a couple of seconds later and told his friend to bring the girl along. They grabbed her by her arms and pulled her along. She tried to wiggle out of their grasp but it was useless, their grips were so tight she was sure that a bruise would show up the next day.

By the time that they had arrived to their destination they were located in a room that was filed with computer screens and several Technos that typed vigorously at them. They shoved Gypsy making her trip over her skirt and fall to the ground in front of a mechanical wheel chair. She had heard from rumors that this was leader of the new tribe and he was more than willing to 'delete' anyone that got in his way, whatever that meant.

Gypsy pushed herself up from the ground and saw that she had small burn marks from the carpet. She brought her palms up to her lips and gave them almost small kisses, like her mother use to do when she was younger when she got hurt, and looked at the man in front of her. She knew that she probably looked like a child doing this but she didn't worry about it. She just wished at that moment that she hadn't decided to come into the hotel. If only she didn't live on such impulses. Maybe if she stuck in one place for longer than 3 months then she wouldn't have this problem.

The man in front of her in the wheel chair, whom she assumed was Ram, looked at her with a scowl. There were two identical women that stood behind him, one had a more softer look to her while the other had a similar expression to her but it was more angry.

"How did you get in my hotel?" Ram asked clearly more angry that she had somehow got past security.

Gypsy smiled slightly, dropping her hands to her side. "That is a secret that I would like to keep to myself."

Ram didn't seem happy with the answer and neither did his angry looking lady friend behind him. "Just tell him you little brat!"

"I see no advantage to telling you people. Seeing as you are the ones who kidnapped innocent kids!" Gypsy argued. She could feel her temper rise, something that her and her younger brother had in common. Neither of them were good with thinking things through (that was obvious with her current situation), though their older brother always had a clam disposition and was a great leader, if he tried. But that was all before they had gotten separated long ago after the virus.

"Java," Ram held up a hand signaling her to stop. He moved his wheel chair closer to Gypsy and she took a slight step back only to run into two technos. "I does not matter how you got in here but more so that you will never do it again." Ram commanded. Gypsy just nodded her slowly, hoping that it would get her out of the current situation.

"And to make sure of it you will be joining all the other virts that we, as you put it, kidnapped". He grinned at her and folded his hands. After getting enough humor from Gypsy's shocked face, he waved his hand at one of the guards behind her and had her removed from the room.

Gypsy woke up a couple hours later in the bare room that she had been confined to by Ram. She had been told that the trucks that transported the kids to the camps wouldn't leave for another two days so she was going to have to stay in the hotel until then. In a way she wished that she was on the truck rather than stuck in the room, it was completely bare beside the red walls and single chair.

She rubbed her neck in pain, there was no possible way to sleep on the ground, with no blankets or pillow, and be comfortable.

Getting up from her spot Gypsy walked around the room once before going to the window to look outside, she was on the second story of the building. The green trees were off in the distance, past the courtyard and pool, and at that moment she wished that she was lost in them. Being locked inside for long amounts of times had never been her thing. She needed freedom and all of a sudden the room she was in seemed to small to bear for much longer.

At that moment the door opened slowly and one of the guards walked in with a tray of food, which did not look appealing at all. Gypsy scrunched her face in disgust, not sure if she was truly hungry enough to eat it. Then she looked up at the tall Techno with innocent eyes and a sad smile.

"You know I hate being locked up in this stuffy room. I really need to be outside and let my legs stretch." She looked at the ground briefly before back in the boys eyes. He seemed to not be able to look away from her blue eyes. If she could get him to take her outside away from the others maybe she would have a chance of escaping.

"If you could just take me outside for a little bit it would be..."

"Jace! What is taking you so long?!" A much more older Techno entered the room with an angry look on his face. She saw the boy visibly jump from his voice. Gypsy was almost positive that the man had a position of power by the fact that he didn't wear a mask like the others and he had two red curved lines on the side of his face, as opposed to the one that most had.

"Rio! I uh...was just talking to the girl. She wanted to...um." Jace was clearly intimidated by the man in front of him. Rio raised an eyebrow at the boy and then commanded him to leave, which he did quickly and gladly.

"What is it that the boy just couldn't seem to get out?" Rio's steel blue eyes pierced Gypsy, who understood why Jace was so scared of him. He was tall, at least 6'2, his chest was broad and it was clear he worked out daily. His jaw was structure perfectly, his brown hair was shaved closely to his head and it looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of day. He had rugged look to him but still keep a clear style with his authority and uniform.

Gypsy smiled in appreciation, even if he was the enemy. "I was just asking if he would escort me outside so that I could get some fresh air and be able to stretch my legs some."

"There is pleanty of room in here to walk around in and more than enough air." Rio said with an unchanging look.

"Yeah but it is not the same as being outside." Gypsy refuted. "What-ever, just forget about."

"Fine, I'll take you." He finally replied after a few seconds of silence. Gypsy's eyes became slightly larger at the idea. There would be no way of her getting away from this man.

"No, it's fine. I will just wait-"

"For Jace? Or one of my other soldiers? So that you can seduce them into letting you go?" A smile fell onto his lips as Gypsy realized he knew what she was trying to do.

"Forget it." She said turning her back to him.

"Listen, either you come with me now or you won't be able to see any of your "fresh" air." Rio rolled his eyes at her over-dramatic attitude. Keeping her back to the Techno Gypsy debated if it was worth it or not. After a few seconds Gypsy turned back around and nodded her head, and followed Rio out to the courtyard.

AN: I own nothing from the tribe, so don't sue! Please review any feedback is good to me.