AUTHOR'S NOTE

Dang...Chapter 21, huh? We've gotten quite a long way. Seriously, guess what's gonna be so special about the next chapter? CHAPTER 22 WILL BEGIN ON THE 100TH PAGE OF ANA IN THE LAND OF HEARTS. Hear that guys? We're about to reach the 100th page of my fanfiction! How excitin! And to celebrate? Well..I don't know. I can't do much, heheh. Maybe I'll make the next chapter extra long? I don't know, I'll figure somehting out later. But, for now, sit back, relax, drink some water, and read Chapter 21. Please, please, PLEASE post your comments! I can't tell you how excited I get to read them. And the funny or cool ones? I reply back to! :D So, yeah, be a doll and leave a comment? I hope you find this series funny, cute, mysterious, suspenseful, and altogether entertaining... Please tell me what you think and maybe how I can improve? Also, if you have any questions, please aaaask! The worst I could say is "Sorry, chap. That question will be answered in a later chapter! :)" See? Not so bad. SO don't be a stranger. Anyhoo, start reading now, please. Love you guys! ~Later!

~Nuggs~

Chapter 21

Shire chuckled, his low voice rumbling in my ear. "You idiots have perfect timing," he snickered, leaning over my lap.

The lights came back on, and Shire leaned back on the couch, his hand still on my knee. I glanced up to see who the heck these mysterious thieves are. It was not one, not two, but three handsome guys standing by the closet. The one closest to the closet was leaning against it, and the other two were standing next to him, their arms crossed all high and mighty.

"If we're gonna make robbing a living, might as well have some fun with it, right?" The one leaning against the closet pointed out.

Who are these guys? Friends of his? Or a bunch of pesky thieves who robs Shire so much that they have a whole routine with him? Shire smirked at the two crossing their arms. "I see your henchman still don't have their own personalities."

"I'm tellin' ya, man. They're real deal henchmen." The thief sighed, shaking his head like he were a proud father. "Who's the hot kink?" he asked, nodding his head in my direction.

"This right here?" Shire asked, patting my thigh. "Anastasia Liddell."

"Why's that sound familiar? Hey, Liddell, do I know you?"

Alarmed at the direct approach, my cheeks went bright pink. Don't judge me. "Um, I don't think so." I whispered, my voice hoarse.

"Jax, she's from the prophecy, for crying out loud." Shire laughed, somehow amused that 'Jax' didn't remember this.

"Mm," he hummed. "Makes sense. I'm Jax, chief bandit of the woods," he greeted, reaching a hand out.

It seemed safe, so I gripped his hand with mine and gave him a quick shake. "Nice to meet you." Now was the perfect time to give him a onceover. First of all, his green eyes were surrounded by a dark shade of gray. He had one of those paperboy hats of a brown color. On his left hand was a dark green glove, but his right hand was bare. His hair was a very dark gray, peeking out of the hat in the front and back of his head. And, oh gosh, he had a tail. My eyes widened as it stared at the gray foot-long tail lined with black stripes. Perfect. He was a raccoon-dude. Fits his character. As he took off his hat to give his head a scratch, I caught sight of little gray ears, tipped with black. This is priceless. His two henchmen were handsome, but kind of plain. They were tall with broad shoulders while Jax was on the slender side. Their hair was jet black. They were wearing sunglasses, so I couldn't describe their eyes, but they both had a little mole on their left cheek, which is always fun. Gives them spunk.

"Are you two…friends?" I asked, glancing between Cat Boy and Raccoon Bandit.

Raccoon Bandit shrugged his shoulders. "You know what they say. Nothing brings too people together faster than the hatred of a third person." He snickered, clasping his hands together. The glove mad a loud popping noise. "Crap, my bad. Left the bait in the glove compartment."

Glove compartment? I held back a laugh. Everything here is so literal and… makes more sense. We have so many words that don't actually mean what they should. Like the word 'concur'. I always assumed it meant "I object" or "I don't agree", but instead, it means you agree. And the word 'incarcerated'. Did you think it meant burnt to death? Well, we're all wrong. It means to be imprisoned. Crazy.

Shire glanced over at me. "You ranting in that messed up head of yours?" he asked, beginning to recognize the face and silence I created when I was busy comparing, describing, or critically analyzing things. I tended to do that a lot. "It's becoming more obvious every time you do it."

"She do it a lot?" Jax questioned, flicking his finger in my direction. I felt self-conscious.

"All the time." Cat Boy scoffed. "The kink even does it when I'm trying to tell her something."

"Where's your other kink anyways?"

"How should I know?" Shire asked with a sudden death glare. Geez, was this kid bipolar? Calm your hormones, kitty. "You know our situation,"

"Oh, right, right," Raccoon Lad sighed, holding both hands up in a stop-talking-I-get-it-I-was-mistaken kind of way. "The situation." He cooed, wiggling his eyebrows.

"You say it like it's something scandalous." Shire snickered mockingly, clearly amused by the bandit standing before us. I wasn't amused, though. I was upset. The fella interrupted our conversation and called me a kink. What's a kink? What word does it associate with back on… Human land? I guess I have to call it that now. Or maybe just my dimension?

"Am I giving you chills?" Jax wondered, all eyes looking over at me now.

"No," I blurted unthinkingly, shaking my head. They seemed to be interested in tougher girls who don't take crap. I think. "But your henchmen are making me feel really awkward." I admitted. Couldn't help myself. "What are their names? Do they even talk to each other? Do they talk to you?"

By this time, the pesky raccoon was digging through the closet again. "What?" he yelled from behind the wooden doors. I didn't even bother to repeat myself, and he recognized that his stalling wasn't working. I know he heard me. "Yeah, they talk. Guess how they coordinate their outfits?" he snickered. "I think one of their names is, like, Donavan?"

"Is that even a name?" Shire asked, totally disgusted.

How rude. Back in my dimension, that was a pretty nice name for a guy…

Both henchmen shake their heads, one of them looking offended and one looking dejected. Poor guys. If they were my henchmen, they'd know that I know their names, and I'd make them less shy and not force them to coordinate their outfits. Unless they like matching; if they do, then I'm totally cool with that too.

"Are you sure?" Jax wondered. "I could've sworn one of you had the name of Donavan. At least, you look like you should've been named that."

"No one would name their kid that if they want them to have a good forest rep," Shire scoffed, shaking his head in disgust.

Forest rep? Is that like…street cred? This is priceless.

"Ah, dammit." Jax murmured as a shoe dropped out of the sack attached to his hip. Strange, I didn't notice it earlier. He bent over to pick it up. "So what you two doing, anyways? Sitting in here. It's so damn dark."

"I can see perfectly fine," Shire pointed out, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah but what about the dunce on the couch?"

I tilted my head to the side, assuming that was another reference to me. "I can see okay. The lamp is giving off some light…" I trailed off, not comfortable talking in front of this guy. He seemed sketchy to me. I didn't trust him.

"Put down Claudine's shoe. Geez, you never give up." Shire complained, already getting tired of the bandit. "What're you going to do with it, anyways? It's one shoe."

"Why is it in your tree?" Jax questioned, strolling over closer to the couch. "This oughtta be a good story,"

That statement made me cringe.

"It's not that amazing." Shire yawned, leaning back into the sofa. "This one night, she decided to go on a late night walk without me. I was sleeping on this couch, and then she knocked on my door and came inside. She asked if she could stay for the night because she was too sleepy to walk all the way home. It was cold that day, so I let her borrow some of my clothes that covered more of her body to sleep in. She forgot to take back the clothes she left here. That's the end of that."

"Sounds suggestive," Raccoon Boy cackled, plopping himself onto the couch. "What time is it?" Gosh, this guy was easily distracted. We couldn't stay on one topic for long.

"How the Hell should I know?" Shire gaped, holding a hand up as if he were about to slap us all upside our faces. "How the Hell would anyone know? Everything's so damn messed up. You never know when it's time to sleep or wake up, if you're gonna be late for a date, if it's gonna be freakin cold or not? It sucks. You ask someone what time is it, and they all give different hours!"

"Shire," I murmured, placing my hand on his forearm. He needed to relax a bit. His volume was going higher than my ears could handle. "Is it just time and weather that's making you so angry about this timekeeper trouble?" I questioned. I mean, I understand why you'd be mad if the time was never the same when there was five feet between; it gets frustrating. But is it necessary to rant all the time about it? It's got to be something more than that, and I haven't noticed it until now.

"Of course there's more. Petty stuff like time isn't the only problem."

The bandit rolled his eyes in agreement. "We're not unified anymore, Liddell."

"We're all on our own." Shire said, finishing Jax's thought. "Think about it: we become freakin adults when we're only twelve years old. Ms. Queenie amputates any body part caught in a crime, no matter how small the crime actually is. The kingdom people are always so damned frightened to leave the walls and check out the outskirts. The knights of the kingdom are all split up and the lower class ones have such degrading standards to live by. Everyone gossips. Most of the smiles are fake. No one likes sharing time anymore. Everyone's always quick to blame someone else for their problems.

"I've lived her for a while now, and before the Queen turned eighteen, she was less idiotic. She actually wanted to know our problems. She wasn't selfish. She wasn't as fat as a pregnant flowercow. She let any knight or soldier speak, no matter the color of their shield. She didn't cut off people's hips for bumping into her. The gate to go in and out of the kingdom was way bigger than it is now. The guards never asked why you wanted to leave or exit. The locals wouldn't look at you funny when you walk in wearing black and purple when everyone else is dressed in red. The Queen welcomed all visitors in her throne room and speaks to her directly. She used to bow to you when you entered the room, then you'd do the same. She would be okay with letting you touch her hand. She'd give you a personal tour of her castle rather than leaving you on your own to explore. She used to care, Ana." Shire's voice went low, all quiet like. "She used to care."

"There's no unity." Jax added, nodding in agreement to Shire's huge ranting bit. "There's no unity anywhere, pretty much."

"Look at us, Ana," Shire barked, "All of the outsiders… Have you noticed something different about us compared to the people within the gates of the Queen's little stupid world?"

I hesitated to reply; being put on the spot really wasn't intent. "Um," I blurted, glancing at Jax and Shire. I wasn't catching on to any differences yet. "Well, for starters, you guys tend to mix up the colors you wear… Most of the kingdom people wear red and black and white." I commented. "Except for the farmers." I added, recalling that Stevie wasn't wearing much red or black or white on him when we met.

"Look at the bigger picture, Ana." Shire sighed, rubbing his brow with his wrist. "Look past the clothes."

Did that mean I'm supposed to picture them naked? My face began to flush at the thought, but I couldn't be immature right now. I mean, at school, making things dirty was totally hilarious. Unfortunately for me, I didn't have the choice. I had to think from the mind of Shire…unless he was the type to imagine people naked… I mean, Claudine's pants ended up in here somehow, so…

"Damn it, Ana. Look at us!" Shire yelled, standing to his feet in anger. He grabbed the hat from Jax's head and pulled it off. Surprise! Jax had two big, gray raccoon ears sticking out; a black striped on each one. The bandit sneered and reached for his hat back.

That's when it hit me. I looked at the tails, the eyes, and the ears. I looked at their clothing as well, just to be sure. Yup, I knew what they were communicating. "There's no animal people in the kingdom." I murmured, cocking my head to the side.

"Ding, ding, ding!" Jax cried out, finally snatching his hat back from Shire. "We've got a winner. There's no hybrids living in the kingdom."

It's true. So far, I haven't seen any. Stevie is totally human. All the peasants and villagers were. The soldiers were, as far as I could tell. The Queen wasn't. The guards aren't. The maids and butlers and chefs weren't. The street merchant who gave me the "orange" wasn't part animal either. "So, what you're saying is," I began, trying to clear things up. "You're allowed to visit the kingdom, but you can't live there?"

Both boys nodded. Hm. They couldn't even be permanent residents. It's kind of like the United States. Over there, they were a little bit similar with immigrants, right? How they didn't allow just anyone to be a citizen? Some were considered residents, and others were illegal and only could hang around for a small amount of time—never to be a citizen or resident. Wonderland isn't as perfect as I thought. "What if you enter and live there anyways? How could they tell?"

"There's a census," Shire stated. "Plus, those guards always ask us our business for entering. Can't get past them without giving them your life story."

I'm sure he was exaggerating…right?

"And they write down every time you walk in and out those freakin' walls, Liddell. Like stalkers." Jax added, shaking his head in disbelief.

"But the Queen can't possibly hate all of the hybrids," I insisted, furrowing my eyebrows. "What about William? She actually likes him! Well, not really, but she lets him into her throne room, and it seems like he works for her."

"That's because William is a neutral." Shire replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Sure, he's a hybrid, but he does reports on the lands outside the kingdom and shares them with the Queen. Any suspicious activity, dangerous characters, the usual."

"That's why we can't really hate 'em," Raccoon Boy stated, adjusting the hat on his head. "He's a hybrid, he doesn't take a specific side, and the Queen actually tolerates him. Gotta respect that. He worked to get her as an ally."

"To be honest, I wish I could do that." Shire admitted, rubbing the back of his neck and walking towards his closet. "I wouldn't feel like I'm being forced or watched or anything. I'd just be completely free and not have to suffer from people hating me."

"People aren't a fan of me either, Cat Man," Jax pointed out, snapping his fingers at the slumped minions standing behind him. "Yo, Donavan. Donnie. Dan. Dylan. Whatever the Hell your names are, let's get out of here." He called as the two boys opened the door. "You mind if we take your girl?" Raccoon Boy teased, taking my wrist toward the door.

I looked nervously to the right where Shire was positioned. "Where are we going?"

"Why would-" Shire watched me carefully, and then looked over at Jax. "Just don't kill her," he muttered, rolling his eyes and walking over to the half-finished painting on the wall.

"'Course not, just gonna show her around."

"I know the land pretty good," I concurred, putting my index finger up like it would help me make my point.

"There's way more than what you've seen, Liddell," the teen chuckled, patting my shoulder with his gloved hand. "For instance, you haven't seen my turf yet." Cat Boy immediately turned around and raised his eyebrows in shock.

As we walked through the wooden door, Shire slumped his shoulders and sighed.

"Just don't get her killed."

And the door shut behind us.