Thunderclouds loom over the top of the mountain, rain coming down like hammers and nails. She shivers while the shadows whisper their teasing taunts. The thunder rolls, and she looks up at the sky. Just then, the shadows peel away, and a darker shadow appears. Her eyes mocking and triumphant. "No one is coming to rescue you," the shadow tells her. Satine said nothing. She kept her eyes low and to the ground, so she would not have to look at her captor. The shadow laughed again and walked away. "Lost all her beauty..." the shadow paused for a moment, looking back at the cage. "Lost all hope." The shadows disappeared, leaving her alone with the cold sunrise, but at sunset, they would be back, to taunt her further. She would cry, but her eyes had no more tears. There were no birds on this mountaintop, no friendly animals to hear her call for help. The day crawled by, scorching sun burning down on her, without even a blanket to shade herself from the heat. The little water she got from the rain was already dried up. She tried to sleep, tried to escape to the realm of dreams, but the magical lock on her cage kept her from even that small comfort. At around noon, she felt something move across her shoulder. She looked up. A shadow? She turned. Someone standing with the halo of the sun over their shoulder. "Who?" she whispered, her parched throat hurting from even a single word. The figure stepped forward. A little boy with walking shoes, a cap, and a traveling pack. "My name is Christian," she said. "Who are you?" "I -- I --" Satine paused, her eyes gazing down. "Please!" she whispered. "Please! Help me!" "How?" She told him how he can help her. "Hm." He thought. "Please" Satine said, "please" She took a step back, but then saw Christian's eyes widen the hope there being devoured by fear. Right then and there, he knew he had to help Satine. "Ok, I'll help you "he said. "Thank you, Thank you" said Satine. "But you have to promise me something" he replied

"Ok, what?" asked Satine. "You have to promise to be my best friend" Christian told her. "All right. I agree" she said. "Very well," Christian said. "let's take you home." So he took her home and now they are best friends.