This will be finished once Inkdeath comes out. Sorry for the inconvenience. ( Oh, and i don't own Inkheart. don't Sue me!!


"No!" Thunk! Meggie chucked her notebook for about the 50th time. It hit a tree with now familiar thunk. Meggie got up, picked up the notebook, and started writing…again! She had been trying and failing for the past hour to write something. Not just an ordinary something, but a very important something. Meggie was trying desperately to write words that would bring back Dustfinger. The tragic scene still played in Meggie's head, over and over again. Basta plunging his knife into Farid's back; Dustfinger asking Meggie if she wanted him back; Roxane and Meggie coming to see Dustfinger giving himself up to the White Women; Dustfinger falling to the ground, dead. Meggie wiped the tears that were forming around her eyes yet again away. She had to write the passage that would bring him back. If she didn't, Orpheus would, and then he would claim Dustfinger owed him his life. Meggie couldn't, wouldn't allow this. Dustfinger was too good for that. And with Fenoglio in a depression, she was the only one who could do it.

She took a deep breath, calming herself. Then she wrote, Dustfinger was dead. As dead as dead could be. And yet he...No that wouldn't work. She was using the word dead too much. She heard a branch break nearby. Probably Mo, coming to fetch her. Meggie loved her father, but right now she didn't feel like dealing with him. She started writing yet again. Dustfinger was dead. He had given his life to save the boy, and now he was in the White Women's care. And yet he- "NO NO NO!"

Meggie chucked her notebook yet again. This time, she didn't hear the familiar noise of the book hitting the trunk of a tree. But Meggie didn't care. She burst into tears. Why was it so hard, to form sentences into a picture. She could read stories beautifully, but she couldn't write them.

"It's not as easy as it looks, is it?" Meggie jumped. She was surprised, not just because she had thought she was alone, but also because the voice was one Meggie did not recognize. It was a girl's voice, and it had an accent to it not found in the Inkworld. It sounded like how some American tourists Meggie had seen by the ocean sounded; confident, with a slight southern twang to it.

Meggie turned to see who the new comer was. She gasped. The girl standing behind her was the strangest girl Meggie had ever seen. She was tall, thin and looked about 16. She was smiling a very crooked smile, but it seemed both friendly and like a smirk at the same time. Her skin was tan, like she had spent a little too much time at the pool. But it was her hair and eyes that scared Meggie the most, simply for the fact both were extremely similar to Capricorn's.

Her hair was chin length, and sort of spiky, falling over her ears. It was so fair, it looked white, just like Capricorn. Then there were her eyes. They were wide, framed by thick black lashes with a slight green tinge. But it was the color that was queer. It looked as though someone had taken a tiny drop of light blue paint, dropped it in a bucket of water, and used that to color in the girls eyes. The blue was there, just very washed out. The black of her eyes, too, seemed very faint.

It was obvious to Meggie that the girl wasn't from the Inkworld, simply because of the way she dressed. She was wearing a gray T-shirt, green plaid sweats that read Alpha, Kappa, Love on the sides, and some ratty old sneakers. Over her shoulders was slung an army green messenger bag with a firebird on the front. Meggie could also see that the girl's fingernails were painted white, just like her hair.

Meggie studied the girl for a few moments more. The girl didn't seem to object, which struck Meggie as odd. Most people would get annoyed if the were being studied. In her hands, to Meggie's horror, was the notebook Meggie had chucked. The girl just stood there watching Meggie. She's observing me!, Meggie realized, a jolt of nervousness flashing through her stomach.

Finally, Meggie found her voice. "Who…who are you?" she managed to spit out. The girls smiled widened. Now it was a smirk, no doubt about that.

"What kind of a question is that?!" she asked. Meggie blinked.

"What?" she asked.

The girl shook her head. "That's always the first thing everyone asks. Who are you? They never seem to think it's a rather ridiculous question. There are far more important questions people could ask, and yet they never do until it's to late!" As she said this, the girl took out a black lighter with a red paw print on it.

"More important questions? What do you mean?" Meggie asked. The girl lit the lighter.

"There you go, with another stupid question," she said. "My gawd, I thought you was supposed to be smart Meggie Folchart."

Meggie gasped. "How do you know my name?" she asked.

"And another stupid question. Keep going. You're on a role." The girl laughed slightly. It wasn't a kind laugh. "Look, because I'm in a slightly less evil mood, I'm going to help you. What am I holding in my right hand?"

"A lighter."

"Very good. Now what am I holding in my left hand?"

"My note-" Meggie suddenly realized what the girl was doing. "Don't!" she yelled. Too late. The girl held the lighter a few centimeters away from the bottom of the notebook, the flames just barely licking the notebook.

"Don't! Please!" begged Meggie. The girl just smirked.

"Not until you ask a smart question," she said. The fire began to chew the notebook. Meggie thought furiously. Then it came to her.

"Will you please hand me back my notebook?" she asked. Why didn't she ask that in the first place? The girl smiled once again, almost in relief it looked like. She shut the lighter and blew out the flames on the notebook to Meggie's relief.

"Finally," the girl said. "When I steal stuff, why do people ask me who I am first instead of if I will give them their stuff back? It always strikes me as odd. So I've taken to burning their stuff until they think to ask it," she explained. "I mean, if you don't ask for it back, it's technically mine." She tossed Meggie back the notebook. The very corner was singed, but nothing worse.

"You can get in a lot of trouble for that," Meggie said. The girl laughed again, this time friendly sounding.

"You're tellin' me," she said. "I've still got the bruises from where L kicked me. The man loves his cake. But, as someone, I'm not sure who, once said, 'Let's rid the world of idiots, shall we?' And I personally agree with it."

Meggie stared at the girl a few minutes more. Who was this L she mentioned? But that was probably a stupid question. So she asked again, "Who are you?"

"I thought I made it clear I'm not answering that, at least not yet," the girl said. "Don't make me set you on fire. Try again."

Meggie thought a bit. Then, remembering what the girl had said earlier, asked, "What did you mean by, 'It's not as easy as it looks?"

The girl smiled. "Good question," she said. "What I meant was, writing. Its not as easy as it looks, is it?"

Meggie sighed. "No," she admitted. "In fact, it's the hardest thing in the world."

The girl made a clicking noise. "I beg to differ," she said. "Yes, writing is hard…for certain people. Writers are often scorned by morons who say it's so easy. But very few people can actually weave sentences together, form pictures in the readers mind, create entire worlds from just a few well written passages. It's true magic to be able to do that, a magic not all people posses. You, for instance."

Meggie was awed by the girl's voice. She must be a reader with a voice like that, a voice as rich as chocolate and as soft as a kittens fur. The way she spoke about writing made Meggie realize the art for what it truly was, a magic.

"Are you a reader?" she asked.

The girl opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a yowl coming from the distance. The girl rested her face in her hand, and said, "Shit, she's been caught."

Meggie was just about to ask who had just been caught, when Mo, the Black Prince, and several other strolling player entered the clearing. Two of them were carrying a girl, just as queer as the first. She was a little shorter than the first girl, but she looked about the same age. Her skin was just as tan, and her looks just as frightening.

Her hair was several different colors all blended together: blonde, brown, gold, silver, black and red. Her eyes had catlike slits in them, and were gold and purple in color. She hissed at the men carrying her, revealing 2 rows of sharp fangs.

Mo ran to Meggie, pushing the first girl out of the way.

"Meggie, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes, of course," she replied. "What's going on?"

Mo turned to the 2nd girl, who the 1st girl was walking towards.

"We discovered her sneaking into one of the tents," he explained. "The Prince thinks she may be a spy for the Adderhead."

"I am not!" the 2nd girl shrieked. Just like the 1st girl, her voice had to belong to a reader, though it was a little different. For one thing, there was no accent. Also, while the first girl's voice had an edge to it, this girl's voice was smooth, sort of like a cat. Like Basta, Meggie thought with a shudder.

The 1st girl looked at the other girl a moment, coldness and friendliness in her glare. Then she started laughing, somewhat angrily.

"What's so funny?" the Black Prince demanded.

Ignoring him, the 1st girl jeered, "And you said I would be caught first. 'You're soooo freakin' clumsy, you'll get caught before I finish reading the last sentence!!' Well look whose caught first, Miss So Superior!"

"Shut up!" the other girl yelled.

"No you!"

"You first!"

With sudden quickness, the Prince clamped his hands over the two girls mouths, though this didn't stop the arguing. In fact, it made it a little worse. Though the words were in audible, it was obvious both girls were cussing out the Prince. Finally, when both girls shut up, the Prince released his grip on them. "Now, who are you and what are you doing here if you're not working for the Adderhead?" he asked the girl with the fangs. She opened her mouth to answer, but the white haired girl interrupted with a sudden unexpected burst of energy.

"She's Kyra, the werecat. Kyra means 'little dark one' in Celtic!" she exclaimed. The Black Prince turned to Kyra, a smirk on his face.

"Little dark one?" he said. Kyra gave the other girl a dirty look. Seeing this, the Black Prince asked, "So, Miss Dark One, would you mind telling us who you're friend is?"

Kyra said, annoyance clear in her voice, "That little ball of hyperactive A.D.D. fun is Echo, the witch." There were several gasps

"Hey! Why did you tell them I'm a witch?!" Echo said angrily to Kyra.

"Why did you tell them I'm a werecat?!" Kyra retorted.

"This is different!"

"How?"

"Did you forget? WITCHES GET BURNED IN THIS WORLD!!"

"Yeah, and so do people whose names mean 'little dark one'!"

"Enough," the Black Prince said quietly, but it was enough. The 2 girls shut up. To Kyra, he asked, "Now what were you doing in the tent?"

"She was looking for Gwin!" Echo exclaimed. It was apparent to Meggie she had a really big mouth.

"Echo, shut up!"

"Make me!"

"I will!" Saying that, Kyra kicked Echo, breaking free of her captors.

"Ow!" Echo shouted. She swung a punch, hitting Kyra in the gut. Soon the two were rolling on the ground fighting. Echo got Kyra into a headlock, but Kyra kicked her hard, sending Echo flying into a tree. She coughed, got up, then lunged at Kyra. Knowing what was coming, Kyra ducked. Echo tripped over her, landing flat on her face.

"This fight is waaaaaaay better than the ones L and Light had," Kyra said, pulling Echo up.

"Yeah, totally," Echo agreed, before once again tackling Kyra to the ground. They continued to fight like this for several more minutes, neither seeming to get the upperhand. Meggie couldn't help but grin. Watching these two was very entertaining.

The Black Prince waited for the 2 to stop arguing yet again. When each had the other in a headlock, he asked Echo, "And what were you doing? Finding some unlucky person to curse?" He looked at Meggie.

"I wanted to meet Meggie," she replied. Mo instinctively pulled Meggie closer to him.

"Did she hurt you?" he asked her.

"No," said Meggie, "but she burned my notebook a little."

"What?!"

Echo said loudly, "Oh sure, conveniently leave out the fact I taught you how to ask an intelligent question!"

Mo gave her a funny look, but realizing like Meggie had, that Kyra and Echo were from her and Mo's world, he asked, "How did you get here?"

At this, both Echo and Kyra smirked a very superior smirk.

"The same way you did," Echo said, her voice surprisingly quiet.

This response caught Mo off guard. He and Meggie exchanged a look. The Prince looked at him, confused.

"If you don't mind, could we interrogate these two by ourselves?" Mo asked him. Still confused, the Prince nodded. Mo grabbed Echo and Kyra's arms and pulled them into a clearing.

"All right you two," he said, releasing them. "Start explaining."


In case you don't know, I'm Echo.