AN:I forgot to write a author's note sooooooo... (as you can see from my AN in the next chapter 0_O) This chapter won't make any sense at all to anybody who reads it, but it's an idea for another story I had and decided to slightly incorporate into this story. For those who are looking for the story I was talking about in the summary, it actually starts in the next chapter:)

Prologue

"Well, what are we waiting for?" A young woman whispered to her companion. Something felt wrong, but she didn't know what it was. Before, her instincts would be able to tell her if something was amiss, but it couldn't possibly happen in The Land Beyond The Stars. She shrugged and reached for one of the five large dark shapes hanging in the air. It gently glowed and for a second, she could see the tiny shape squirming in the light. The other one next to it did the same, but the third one simply flickered and dropped to the ground. Horror struck, she turned to the man standing next to her and realized that he had dropped to the ground, doubled over. It took one second to comprehend what happened and in that short moment, the remaining two blobs dropped to the ground to join their sibling on the marble floor. A black mist started curling into the vast room. Instantly, the room chilled and the lights dimmed. The young woman leaped, only managing to grab one of the two remaining shapes, and smashed through the window. The ominous mist already covered the land and dark storm clouds swept the skies. A violent wind tore at her skin and she balanced herself on the window still. Don't struggle child. The voice reached deep into her mind and seemed to tear it from inside out. You are all alone. No one is left. Give up your will to my might. Tears streamed down her face. The Darkness has taken over her home and killed everyone in it. She was alone. A sudden motion made her look at her arms. No. There was still one more left. There was something she had to do.

It's been years since she left us here! Do you think she might even come back? I thought-whispered to my younger brother. No answer. Frustrated and bored, I kicked at the walls of my seemly-impenetrable prison. Stop it! You know we can't break out too early! A voice pierced into my head. Oh now you talk! I hissed back. Silence. Sighing, I settled back into a soft part of the wall and examined my half-formed arm. It was a tiny bit less glowing than a century ago. Or was I imagining it?

Suddenly, a strange familiar chill entered my warm little egg and made my hair stand on end. A chill I felt before my mother put me in this stranger's nest. The Darkness. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the of a famous, Darkness mind attack that my other nest mates hear from their worried parents. The chill passed. Confused, I reached my mind out to the world around me (BYT, I learned to do it at half a century whereas my brother did at three-fourths of one. Just putting that out there). There wasn't any screaming or running or any weird lady running by shrieking "The children! The children" before tripping over the threshold and smashing into the wall like it happens every time there is a false alarm. It was calm and usually quiet.

Something's not right.

Yeah, where are the adults?

I want my mummy!

My fellow nestlings began to shake with fear and some started to sob silently in their protective eggs.

Guys, if you stop worrying, then we can figure things out. I tried.

They kept on whining.

Hold on, my brother thought to me, I got this.

Then to the other nestlings he yelled mentally, shut up you people! Why in the world are you crying like …!

To my utter shock, the other kids stopped their clamoring. Why did they listen … you know what? Forget it.

Suddenly, an ominous dark mist started drifting in.

Ok, now is a good time to start crying.

The floor started splitting apart. This was getting old.

"Oh wow," my brother stared at me-whoa whoa wait a second, he was talking and like moving around. The protective shell we are supposed to have until we are at least 5 years old was gone. Then how come I could see him? I looked down at myself and saw a pair of chubby two-year-old arms sticking out of a (Oh my gosh!) human body.

Suddenly a huge "Boom!" rocked the previously-really-big-but-now-with-a-pool-of-darkness-inside-it-looked-really-small room we were in, and then the crack on the ground blew open faster and faster. The inside was black and looked like what my mother had described as the night sky except without stars. Bright flashing lights spun in and out of my vision and I felt a heavy weight on my chest. Puny child. Your mother was a fool to believe she could hide you from me. A hand seemed to grow out of nowhere towards my adopted nest mate. Too late I realized that my little brother had disappeared, leaving us to face the ever growing black crack in this universe.

"Jarmin?" My voice echoed weak and helpless amid the crashing sounds of destruction around me before the world I knew crashed down on me.

A huge "Boom!" disturbed the quiet nighttime peace of a village. A tall, dark-haired woman stormed out of her home, eyes flashing and face scowling deeply, and a small mob of people followed. Their eyes were bleary and rough hands rubbed at their faces sleepily, but with a sense of suspicion and wariness. The most abnormal thing that has ever happened in the small village (the village was so insignificant that people didn't even bother naming it, they just called it "small village") was when Farmer Goster's chicken escaped and two dogs ate it alive, so this thing instantly sent bells ringing through people's head's.

The explosion came from the incredibly dense forest and by just looking up, you could see wisps of smoke drifting from the mysterious site. When the group of villagers arrived, all they could see was a smoking crater in the ground, about 4 feet deep and 6 feet wide. Other than that, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The tall woman began to lead the villagers back to their village. Two small blue lights appeared in a flash, disappearing just as quickly. Suddenly, they all felt as if they were being watched and shadows seemed bigger and trees looked like monsters. After some thought they saw something moving behind them, the poor villagers felt like they had enough and sprinted like the Devil was after them.

At the village, however, the adults felt sheepish and unanimously agreed to send an investigation party to check out the crater in the morning when their senses would be sharper.

Therefore, early in the morning, three men and the tall woman from before left in the direction of the incident. The crater looked a lot more destructive in the light but the forest seemed less menacing. The party secretly felt really relieved and were about to return home when they all felt the familiar prickling of the neck like the night before. This time when they looked around, they spotted a child standing in the shadows, half blending in. He looked like any other boy but the clothes he wore was strange and his pale blue eyes like ice, face more serious than a child's face should be. The men slowly moved back, them having no experience with strange children and being used to having the woman the one to handle situations like this, having a this-kid-has-creepy-eyes-and-we-feel-better-just-standing-around-looking-awkward expression on their faces.

"So um...who are you"

Silence passed for a long time, but after what seemed like hours, the boy shrugged.

"Do you know what happened here?"

Another shrug.

"Where did you come from?"

The child instantly blended into the background and vanished. With a sigh, mostly from relief and partly from a slight frustration and puzzlement, the woman turned back to the men who were staring, jaws almost smacking onto the insects, red and orange damp leaves, and the rich fertile soil. After a while, the group started back home, but halfway there, the mysterious child reappeared by the woman's side, icy eyes looking to the ground and completely ignoring anybody.

Back at the village, the curious people swiftly rushed to surround the party in a thin, ragged semi-circle, asking questions and staring at the boy who hung behind the tall woman as if shy.

"Where did the boy come from?"

"What happened with the crater thingy?"

"Is he an alien?" At this, everyone turned to look at the person who said it and he shrank back and blushed.

"Ok, the child came out of nowhere, the crater is a big question mark, and what the heck is an alien? Anymore questions?" The woman put her hands on her hips and glared at everyone. No one said anything for a while until the village baker/butcher/blacksmith's wife spoke up.

"What'er 'e goin' do about 'im?" Everyone looked at each other, glanced at themselves, then all turned toward the tall woman. She looked helplessly at everyone.

"Well Shara, you as the leader, might as well be the one to take the lad in," One of the men from the investigation party chimed in and winced as Shara glared at him. However, she knew he made a point and if she didn't take the child in, it would look pretty bad. It was decided, the child would stay with Shara.

A steady stream of pulsing light drifted off of the sleeping boy's fingertips like rays of sunlight. Suddenly, he jerked awake, closing his hand automatically into a fist and ending the light pouring out of his fingers. His thin shoulders trembled with the effort of keeping the energy from bursting out spontaneously. Finally, he relaxed, releasing a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"That was close," Jarmin whispered. A small black lab squirmed out of its hiding place, tumbled through clouds of straw and dust clouds, before landing in a heap in front of the boy's hand.