City of Life

Disclaimer: I made up the city Civima, so that is mine. I own the plot. Anything Twilight-related belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

This chapter is dedicated to Kookie-chan, Mznickwhite, JSod93, Kelly, Tara-Cullen, 217, Euffie, crimson-goth-girl, cullenfan83, the pen fatelle, Burgandy Pirate, Nini25, jackiehyde4eva, yipprissy, Angel-Girl-656, Jazzy-Kins, Gottverdammit, Kristin Cullen, SunnySkies4Life, ..., ChocolateGal16, ILuvEmmettandFang, raindropsX, StantonDimitriCullen, twilight obsessed, Obsessive Cullen Disorder. Wow, so many reviews! Thanks, guys!!!

Novem:

The sun had set. Most of the townspeople were in their homes. The road was completely empty. Except for one.

Jasper was completely covered by his dark robe as he slinked through the shadows. He silently slid in through the open doorway of the lighted pub.

It was crowded and noisy. Gaggles of drunken men gorged themselves upon their drinks. The girls who served them hurried about.

Jasper made a straight line for the back. It seemed like everyone parted, just for him. He still wore his head as he silently opened the door.

The meeting was about to start. He stood in the shadows at the back and observed. Watched. Listened.

He noticed that almost all the attendees were men. They were men who seemed of the rough kind, and had various scars, eye patches, or missing body parts. Some of them were of the shady kind. At the head of the meeting was a small figure wearing a silk black robe.

Maria Sergita. The rebel leader. "Scourge of the South", as she was known by some. Her skin was dark and callused. She had tangled inky-black hair, black eyes, and was pretty.

Jasper's mind wandered to another small lady, who was more beautiful and had fair, smooth skin, short, spiky midnight-black hair, and sky blue eyes.

Maria stood and surveyed the crowd. It was no more than two dozen. "Men! Do you want your freedom? Do you want more power? Do you want a kingdom where it's ruled by others like you?"

A few of them murmured in agreement. She continued. "I have a quest in mind. The prize will be Civima – ruled by us! And the Cullens –" she snarled the name "– will be overthrown."

More people called their support. "My family, we moved here many generations ago. We owned the same plot of land for a very long time. Then one day, when I was a child, a man came and said that by the order of the Royal Family, we must move so a road may be built on our home! And they tried to give us another plot of land to make amends. But they took away my family's land!

"My family insists they are perfectly happy. But I know that they are secretly suffering on the inside. You can see it in their eyes.

"So comrades, who else has a tale of suffering by the Royal Family?"

A man with an eye patch and several scars stood. "I used to have a ship. I called it the Aguanoir," his hoarse voice croaked. "It was the most beautiful thing on the seas.

"Ever since I was a boy, I'd loved ships. My father was a pira – sailor. I worked on ships all my childhood. I learned how to be a leader.

"I acquired my own ship with money I had so much trouble getting. She was the pride of my life. I hired the best-skilled group I needed.

"Then we land in port here," he growled. "And some troops come aboard, saying hogwash about how the Royal Family is seizing my ship and cargo for 'illicit and unethical deeds'. Sure, I may have not been completely honest or legal in some business dealings, but who hasn't?

"And so my ship was taken. I've spent each day in here, trying to get rid of my sorrows, and I'm nearing to the last of my coins."

Jasper shook his head ever so slightly. These people sounded like they were trying to blame everything on the Cullens.

"So we must rebel!" Maria shouted. "We must work our way, outside-in. Destroy hope, so they are not so resistant later on at the important stages. Burn buildings of those loyal to the Cullens. Burn buildings belonging to the court!"

Jasper's gaze searched the room and paused in several areas – all shadows.

One was the most inexperienced. His dirty-blond hair was in the signature ponytail, and the sneer was still on his face as he watched the meeting. James would be horrible at reconnaissance.

The others weren't really trying. One group was of three, though Jasper couldn't tell who they were, as they had hoods over their faces. But he did notice that their skin was papery white.

The other group was a pair. They looked small. They gave off a bad aura. Jasper blinked when he saw their eyes. Bright red. Who were they? What were they?

He was too busy contemplating this to notice that Maria was standing in front of him. "Who are you?" she demanded.

Jasper kept his hood over his face. "Somebody."

"Why are you here?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Same as everybody else here, aren't I?"

She eyed him. "I like you. You have spunk. I'll be keeping an eye out for you." Maria walked away. Jasper frowned. That did not sound good. He was not supposed to be noticed. What kind of Night-Shadow was he?

He noticed that James was gone already. He was acting very suspicious. Jasper hurried outside and walked to the inn.

Charlotte and Peter were sitting at a table, drinking tea. They looked up as he entered. "Jasper, any important news?" Peter asked.

"They are deluding themselves into blaming the Royal Family for every wrongdoing in their lives," Jasper said.

Peter snorted. "That's just stupid."

"They are also planning an 'outside-in'. They're going to burn buildings that belong to the court and people loyal to the Cullens," Jasper continued. "They're doing this so they 'destroy hope' and the resistance is lower at the important stages."

Peter was outright laughing. Charlotte giggled. This rebellion did not seem so serious, though it could be if it actually worked. Keyword being "if".

But Jasper could not help the sinking suspicion that something was wrong. "And Maria noticed me. Apparently, she 'likes' me for my spunk." He grimaced. Peter laughed again.

"I have to go." Jasper's senses were screaming "danger" at him. He needed to get back to the castle. Something was wrong.

Ooh, what's wrong? Night-Shadows rule. Sixth sense! Ah ha ha....cough cough

Chemi: Sorry. Thirteen's a bit wacko today. She had her computer taken away so she lost a few hours when she could've been working on her stories. But don't worry, she got it back today!... I like cheese.

Today's advertised story is Blood Moon by Torilei. It's KIND OF one of those Alice-and-Jasper-take-Edward-and-Bella's spot stories, only Alice, Edward, and Emmett are siblings who are HUMAN, while Jasper, Bella, and Rosalie are vampires. It's wicked awesome. (As you can tell from most of my advertised stories, I am a big Jalice fan. And there's the fact that I have a whole forum pretty much dedicated to Jalice - though people can include other Twilight stuff.)

Summary: Due to tragedy, Alice Brandon moved to Forks with an empty heart. But will a mysterious golden-eyed boy help her to become whole again, or be the death of her?

Remember, review = preview! And I have a new Alice and Jasper story up. Called Alice. Very original, huh? XD Yup, more Jalice stuff!