Somehow, over the next few days, dragon and human girl were continually left in peace. The time spent together became something comfortable-enjoyable, even for the both of them. And while caring for Fallow in his current state was a ridiculous amount of work, Bella, or Iza as she had found herself calling herself since the only one to address her was Fallow-she found she slipped into it naturally. Fallow brought out the independence that she had long ago seemingly lost after falling in love with Edward, and figuring out the different puzzles of how to support his healing reminded her of the intelligence that she had that hadn't really been brought to light while the focus in her life had been on her relationship with different vampires that had strength and speed that paled her utter...human-ness in comparison.

She had done more research, and figured out how to set Fallow's broken wing with the same type of rigging used on bats, although it was on a much larger scale-with canvas fabric and broken up metal piping. Once again, she had been satisfied that over the past year, the only type of money she had really spent on anything was for the motorcycle. While that had cut into her funds, she still had more than enough-not to mention there were more than a few hundred that Charlie had snuck into her traveling bag-to be able to pay for the continued supplies without hurting. Yet. She knew she would have to find a way to finance herself again at some point, and now that the haze of terror had left her mind, Iza had come to the conclusion-with sadness-that it was probably best if she continued to allow her mom and everyone else to think she was dead. There had been no sign of Victoria, so the vampire probably thought as much, or Iza would have been found by now. Stirring that up too early would put her mom in as much danger as Charlie had been….and she couldn't let that happen to her only remaining parent. The Cullens were gone...as heart-wrenching as that had been, after all that had happened it felt like eons ago. Jacob….was obviously worlds away mentally. In truth, she doubted anything could repair the bridge between them now. It had also been pounded into her through terrifying events-she was on her own.

For Fallow, it was an admittedly nice change to have someone talk to him in a civil manner, even if it was a human. The human girl was interesting-after all, he had spent most of his life only surrounded by his own kind and the things that they hunted for food. They had all been taught tales of humans, of course, but to actually be able to speak with one was interesting. The tales of humans didn't quite...cut to the simple realness the girl had. And if he were honest, Fallow loved the kindness in the human's care. He had never regularly been doted on after his six month hatching anniversary. At that age, hatchlings were expected to start hunting and caring for themselves, so he lost the protection of his dam. The rest of the flock usually stepped in and began supporting the young hatchlings as a whole during this time-even the six horns. Closeness of the flock was encouraged from the very start-so hatchlings were usually groomed, taught to hunt, and supported very well during this time until they found a mate of their own. Of course, none of the sort happened with Fallow with the current 'hierarchy' of the flock. He was considered one of the ones that should have been left to fall, not strong enough to be a part of them, let alone allowed to remain as a six horn. They had shown him enough 'kindness' to not allow him to die as per the King's order.

. The way the human worked was also strange-dragons of course, never used bandages or ointments, but oftentimes used their fire to heal, as well as rest and the occasional wretched herb that had to be forced down a sick dragon's throat when they had the rare infection. Fallow hadn't been too wary of Iza's odd methods, granted if she did anything he didn't like he figured he could eat her. And, after a few days, he was getting hungry (that being said, it wouldn't do if he lost his only companion outside the rift. He was starting to rather like her, too). Still, with the odd wrappings, sometimes hot, sometimes cold, more often than not brought odd instant relief. In particular, setting his broken wing had been a thing of marvel-she had felt along his webbed wing joints until finding the obvious break-it was a straight up fracture in what equated to his flight elbow, given him a thick log to bite, and heaved her little form until the bone braced properly against the piping she had made for it. It had hurt, of course, at first like nothing he had ever felt, but once in the sling and fully supported, the broken wing was no longer such a horrible bother when he moved, and he even felt relief from when it had lain on the ground in a limp mess.

The girl had barely winced at his loud pained roar-by now used to the sounds he made.

"You're lucky I came across you-left alone that would have surely healed wrong, and had to have been re-broken, or you wouldn't have had any chance of flying again. You still might not, but I've done the best I can."

The statement had caused the young dragon prince to freeze, eyes flicking to the sky reflexively. A knot of anxiety for conflicting reasons had burrowed its way into his stomach-one at the possibility of never being able to fly again. Another-at the opposite possibility of being able to take to the skies once more. The thought and memory of being in the great open sky now brought a gigantic sense of vulnerability, when it should have brought a feeling of release, peace, and home. He had been shown like so many ruthful hatchlings before him how terrifying the sky could be-and every thought of spreading his wings was accompanied with the memory of being thrown around like a kit, thousands of feet in the air, unable to even move at his own will from the air pressure and gravity. Except Fallow hadn't done anything to earn the thunder's ire-at least, not that he knew of, at least. Bitterly, he snapped his jaws, unable to deal with the reality of how he felt in fullness quite yet.

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"You're sure this is where she's at?"

Alice hissed in frustration. Edward shrugged, unaffected by the show of aggression. It was a cloudy day as they had turned into Mapleton, Utah. Something the group of vampires had been completely grateful for-as they all wanted OUT of the damn car. Some of them almost wished for the days of horses and buggies again for the sake of less cramping-almost.

After seeing the roaring fire of Charlie's house, to say Edward was worried was the very least. His eyes had turned black from stress and refusal of hunting. His only and entire purpose had been to find Bella, and Alice had surprisingly agreed. The others, however, wanted to take advantage of the cloudy day and take a few hour long break-which of course would set them behind.

"Yes. You've seen what I've seen-and I haven't been wrong yet."

"Your visions are cloudy."

"I saw her clear as day going into a farm shop and getting metal piping."

Edward's eyes furrowed. He knew it was true, but the fuzziness after the vision troubled him. The other problem that he hadn't quite spoken of yet-figuring the timing of the vision Alice had had when they had went to go see the house-the original plan had been to save Bella from being burned. But they had arrived after the house had already been set on fire-as though when Alice did have clear visions of Bella, they 'lagged'. They had all drilled Alice on the car ride there-asking her different questions about details of life that hadn't been shared with the others. Making sure that Alice herself was fine. Every single question had been answered correctly-disturbingly so. Rosalie had huffed and been annoyed that she obviously didn't have any privacy. That particular moment had been quite amusing.

"Did you see where she went afterwards?"

Alice sighed. "No, unfortunately. Do you have the photo of her?"

Edward grimaced. He had gotten rid of all of his photos of Bella-except one.

"Yes."

"Then let's get to asking around. If anyone can find her, it's us."

Edward Cullen nodded, although doubt had begun to spring up in his mind. If they didn't find her soon, they would have to ask for help. And unfortunately, there was only other person that would have an advantage that they themselves didn't and wouldn't have an interest in eating the girl. He grimaced, and followed his sister into the farm shop regardless, once again trying to block out human minds and smells.

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"Jacob, you have to calm down. You're hurting yourself."

Sam Uley stood in front of the cage that held his brown furred pack member, concern coloring his voice. He had expected Jacob to fly into a temporary rage when caged-that was just his nature. It would be good for the young pup to learn his place in the pack-especially since he had the blood of the alpha, but wasn't fit to be the alpha. Or, so Sam had thought it would be good for him. The massive changeling snarled at the sound of his pack leader's voice, obviously no less defiant. And more pressing of a matter were his teeth and claws-Jacob's gums were bleeding from trying to chew through the bars of the cage like an animal, and his front claws had almost been completely ripped out trying to aid the teeth in the task. And-not once had Jacob been calm enough to change back to his human form once caged. The wolf pack leader rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. Every single other pack member gave him no trouble-and they were easy to keep under control with a snarl, punch, or nip if they did act up.

However, that didn't seem to work with their newest pack member. Every show of authority from him led to more rebellion from Jake, and even the harshest of methods-ie caging-seemed to have the opposite effect he was going for. He wasn't entirely certain what to do-there wasn't exactly a 'how to' book on leading a pack of werewolves. Instincts demanded he be the authoritarian, but with how rebellious Jacob was, even outright attacking him as alpha to dominate would only lead to resentment, which would in turn make the problem worse. The most likely reason Jacob hadn't attacked him yet outright was probably the initial 'love your pack leader' haze that seemed to happen with the first few weeks of changing. It was an oddity that Jacob hadn't been completely lulled by it-only partially. And the effects would run out soon enough-Sam would have to somehow create a real bond with his newest pack mate, and earn his actual loyalty.

Sighing, the wolf man began to strip, decision made. Jake's massive golden eyes watched him warily through the bars of the cage, the snarling never ceasing. The clothes Jake had been wearing when he turned were in a bloodied pile in the corner of his cage.

"Let's go for a good long run. Stay beside me, run as fast as you want, for as many laps around the territory as you need. I'll block the pack bond in your mind temporarily, but I can't leave you to your own devices, angry as you are."

The thousand pound wolf threw himself aggressively at the cage towards his now naked leader, the angry snarl showing exactly what his mind bond told-that the boy had NO desire to spend any type of time with his leader. He didn't want to see him, didn't want to be around him at all.

"Too bad. You will, or you'll be locked in this cage forever."

Of course, instead of intimidating the rebellious were, the youth simply replied.

You can't keep me in here forever. I will eventually get out on my own.

Sam Uley bit back an angry reply, blocking it from the bond. The bars of the cage had been bent from the overgrown youth's latest charge.

"You will slaughter innocents with that type of rage. You are too new to this."

The brown wolf's growl intensified to a level that had the hairs on even Sam's neck standing up, vibrating the entire building they were in. Still, he would not show weakness, and he would not turn violent, no matter how much his instincts were demanding he force Jacob into submission.

Sam Uley opened the door to the cage, blocking the enraged wolf the size of an ox and putting a very human looking hand on his muzzle.

"You will listen."

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Bella/Iza had been following the dirt road back to civilization warily. Her motorbike beside her, she had one purpose-Fallow had to eat. His jaw was somehow already mostly healed, and he would be able to chew. Problem was-he couldn't hunt for himself yet. And she had never killed anything, besides a goldfish or two accidentally. So, she was on the way to Mapleton's supermarket to buy more meat than she had ever bought in her life. Her wallet hurt just thinking about it.

Paranoia set in as she reached the main road. Again, she was grateful that Fallow's rather mysterious abilities were useful. Again, he had slid a scale into her neck, but this one, he had said, would hide her scent and keep her from being recognized for safety's sake. It was apparently one of his specialties-and they had gone through it before. Still, she didn't feel any different, and wondered about the usefulness of such a thing. She realized, with sadness, that it would probably be best for her to completely change her appearance. Pretty basic when you are on the run, but she was familiar and somewhat comfortable with the way she looked. She had never dyed her hair in her life, and had always preferred it long-both of those things would have to be the first thing that changed.

The bike drive to Mapleton seemed to take forever. Oddly enough, away from Fallow, a sense of safety she hadn't realized she had recovered left, and she felt vulnerable. Worse still-she had gotten used to the odd feeling of being able to communicate with Fallow, constantly feeling the edges of his emotions and perceptions. The more distant she was from him, the more the effects of it left. Bella chided herself-she needed to quit hanging on to every living thing like a lifeline, and needed to start acting like the independent person she was.

The buildings by now were familiar-while she had stayed out of town as much as possible to avoid attracting attention, she had had to go in for Fallow's medical supplies once or twice over the past few days. He was huge...and his wounds were large, so it took a lot. Somehow, gratefully, he had accelerated healing, so they wouldn't necessarily be at it for months. That being said, she wasn't sure what was going to happen next once he was healed. He would fly away back to his 'clan' she presumed. A part of her loathed the idea.

The other part of her felt the very real stress of being in one spot too long while she was on the run. She needed to stay on the move-probably for a few years at least-until there wasn't any chance for Victoria to continue pursuing her. Bella hadn't quite worked out all the details yet-one being she would have to find a way to make money while on the run.

Being dead, registering with most working places would be difficult. She could steal money, she supposed. But that could bring attention to her as well. Bella sighed as she parked her bike outside the older styled, discount food market. There were way too many things running through her head when she should be focused. The goal was to get in, get out as quickly as possible. She had to be aware of her surroundings as she went.

The hood of her sweatshirt went up to cover her hair color, the helmet of her motorcycle was left on the handlebars. Bella took a deep breath, trying to calm her pounding, paranoid heart before she went in.

She hadn't been in this discounted food market since she had arrived at mapleton-besides her one outing at the breakfast place, she had been buying food from a gas station for her needs. Bella had only really gone into town for Fallow's extensive medical needs.

As it was, the market was pretty usual. She was happy it was large enough to be fairly crowded-easier to blend in. It was a little odd-there was a section for livestock feed as well. Probably something to expect in a rural township in the mountains. A memory tickled the back of her brain as she glanced at the products.

"Why are your scales so brittle?" Bella had asked while she rinsed out a wound that had started to bleed again from an ill thought out movement from Fallow's part. The care had cracked a patch of yellow white scales right next to the wound. Fallow had huffed, turning his head away, obviously reluctant to answer.

"Seriously. Why?"

...Only the ones accepted as part of the strength of the clan are allowed access to the mineral deposits on our mountain. It keeps our claws, scales, and teeth strong, and fuels our fire-breath.

This had brought on more questions, and it had been Bella's turn to further drill the dragon.

"Is that why you can't breathe fire?"

No. The response had been said alongside a dog like frustrated whine. I never was able to find my firebreath. Just another thing that caused my fellows to shun me as a weakling.

He had obviously been bitter about it. Smiling, she turned the cart and looked at the 40 pound bags of minerals that were meant for livestock. It probably wasn't exact….but there were conveniently smaller bags around it as well for specific minerals as well. They were in the mountain range….probably why the prices were so low, she figured, as she grabbed a couple of the larger bags and stocked up on the smaller ones.

The cart was heavy as she pushed it to the meat section. Bella groaned as she realized mentally what she had thought before-no matter how she did it, this was going to cost a small fortune. Regardless, she started loading the cart with the cheapest bulk option-frozen bags of chicken parts.

By the time she was done, Bella wondered how exactly she was going to bring it all back. She had added in some small supplies for herself, but the bulk of the entirety of the cart was meant for Fallow. She seriously hoped the dragon would soon be able to fend for himself.

Checkout was equally painful-along with the stares she was getting pushing her very full cart up to the counter.

"Feeding the tigers?" the cashier had joked.

"Something like that." Bella had laughed it off. "Family buys in bulk."

The cashier had paused from putting the bags through the scanner. "I haven't seen you around here-what family do you belong to?"

Bella cursed mentally-she had been careless.

"Oh, we're really out in the boonies. We usually go to another store for supplies when we need them, but I was in the area today."

The cashier seemed to accept the answer casually, and Bella had to stop herself from letting out a breath in relief. After paying the obscene amount, once again grateful that she had mostly saved up her money from her previous part time job, she began to fill her cart with the filled plastic bags.

"Have you seen this girl?"

The familiar voice caused Bella to freeze in packing her cart. Part of her leapt in joy as the immediate recognition hit her.

Edward…..

A glance back, and it took every ounce of her will not to screech out in happiness when she saw the two vampires she used to consider family standing not ten feet from her. The cashier stared hard at the picture of her, strangely seeming to struggle. Finally, after a moment, the cashier replied.

"No, did something happen to her?"

The response brought reality crashing back down on her. This was the first time Fallow's proclaimed magic had shown any type of effect. The realization that she was safe from being recognized at all brought an odd relief, despite her initial joy. Bella continued to load the cart, a bit quicker now, feeling Edward's hard stare on her back.

"You...don't...want me?"

"No."

The memory of the past moment sent her reeling, trembling despite her attempts not to.

"She's an old friend of ours. Missing as of about a week ago. If you see her, please call me. Her name is Isabella."

Old...friend. The words cut like a knife through her, and the ache pushed her even farther. He-they-didn't want her around anymore. That had been made clear, with how Edward had said goodbye, and the others had left before even saying anything. And worse...because they had truly left, Charlie was dead, and she had almost died herself. There wouldn't really be any point to bringing attention to herself-the solidity of what they had decided was real, it wouldn't change anything. And...she looked down at the grocery cart. She had someone else to tend to, that was actually waiting for her.

Slowly, her feet pushed herself and the cart out of the store, away from the two Cullens. But the question remained-Why were they looking for her now?