Disclaimer: The Magic School Bus is not mine. The Woodland Wanderers are my friends, so technically I don't own them. I own . . . quite a collection of Magic School Bus tapes from when I was in kindergarden. :)

Chapter Seven

"You have an interesting classroom," Rona said with a smile.

"I take it this kind of thing is normal for you?" D.A. asked.

"What? Fighting? Yes. It's become a way of life for us, fighting to protect our friends, to protect people like you."

"Why don't you let us protect ourselves?"

"Because even if you somehow manage to repel the gleems' original attack, you will not kill all of them. They will wait, in secret, for years, training new warriors, until humanity forgets them."

"That could take a long time."

"Yes, but not forever. Once you stop thinking of them as an immediate threat, they will fade from memory."

"I guess you're right."

"We were that way once about the Roaks."

"Roaks?"

"Bear-like creatures, ten feet or taller. They used to terrorize the entire island. Then they calmed down. Got bored, I guess. We didn't think of them as a threat anymore. They took us by surprise, destroyed a whole village. It was never rebuilt, and there was only one survivor."

"You?"

"Oh, no. This was a long time ago. It was a ten-year-old human a family of elves had taken in as their own. He'd wandered onto the island after his own parents were killed by the gleems."

"Peter?"

Rona nodded. "He and his foster brother were captured when the village was destroyed. He saw his own brother die because of the Roaks' cruelty."

"Does he . . . mind you telling me this?"

"He'd rather have me tell you than have to tell you himself. He doesn't see himself as a hero."

"What about you?"

"I'm a pretty typical Elf, or used to be. I know a little medicine. I've fought in my share of battles, been wounded more times than I can count. I talk to birds and love to climb trees. Like I said, pretty typical of an Elf."

"What did you mean by 'was'?"

"We were banished from the Elf-villages two years ago this winter. When that happened, all trace of normality vanished."

"You're outlaws?"

"Robin Hood and his Merry Men had nothing on us."

"What'd you do?"

"We helped the gleems' leader escape from the Elves."

"Why?"

Rona had secretly been hoping she wouldn't ask. She could give a lot of reasons, that was for sure. Peter and Morgan had too strong a sense of compassion for their own good. No one deserved to die in the Elves' dungeon. But she decided to stick with logic.

"Athos' second-in-command, Angelica, believes they should just let the gleems loose over the whole world. And she would if the Elves had killed Athos, which they would've. We couldn't let that happen." She didn't mention that Angelica was Eric's sister.

"Makes sense," D.A. nodded.

"Didn't to the Elves."

"I guess Robin Hood didn't make much sense to the Sheriff of Nottingham, either."

"Yes, but you mustn't blame the Elves. They did what they thought was right. And what their law required of them."

"Not much room for interpretation in their rules, huh?"

"That's what happens when you do everything by the book."

UltimateSora–Muahahaha. Strange people rule! But rule what, that is the question.