A/N: A story I started awhile ago. I know how I want it to finish. The characters in here that are obviously original are unrelated to characters in any of my other stories [assuming I write more] In fact at this moment I believe the only character I can lay any claim to is the main character. Updates will be sporadic.

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The Phantom's Shadow

It was dark that night. And in the distance, the light of a gypsy camp could be seen. There was a girl there, off in the shadows, waiting for the moment to steal food. This girl had no memory of her parents. The only life she knew was that of the gypsies. She had lived with them until the fair at Verdu. After that fair, she left, stealing what she needed to get by. She never knew her name, as far as she was concerned, she didn't have one.

If anyone saw her during the day, they would have seen a young girl dressed all in black. Tanned skin and a mass of tangled, long, brown hair. Though she was eight, many would mistake her for only being five. If anyone saw her at night, they would believe that they had seen a shadow move.

She stood behind the supply tent. As the gypsies drifted further away from the tent and closer to the fire burning off in the distance, she sneaked into the tent. Inside it was dark, but she had the eyes of a cat. After eating half a loaf of bread and making it look as if an animal had gotten inside and eaten it, she slipped back out of the tent.

Out side it had gotten darker. The girl headed towards the forest behind the encampment. Suddenly she heard dogs bark, and then the muffled voices of gypsies. At first she was going to continue to make her escape when sudden silence fell on the gypsies. Her one weakness being curiosity, she decided to stay and see what had caused the sudden silence.

She silently crept closer, smearing dirt on her face, in hopes that if they saw her, the superstitious gypsies would mistake her for a spirit. She got as close as she dared, but she could to clearly see what it was that caused the gypsies to suddenly fall silent. She saw a flash of a knife in the firelight and knew that whatever it was didn't have much time to live. She felt sorry for the thing, even though she didn't know who or what it was.

She was just about to turn away and head back to the forest, when the rouge Javert appeared. She knew what he looked like from past association with him. She wondered if he still had that stomach that hung horridly over his belt. She remembered the eyes, that seemed narrow and infinitely cruel, sunken into a fat face that glistened with sweat whenever he got excited. She was surprised he was still with the gypsies, but judging how the gypsies behaved, he must help bring a lot of money.

She was not close enough to hear clearly, but from what was going on, the thing was to be locked in a cage. The poor thing turned out to be a young boy, maybe a year older that her. She wondered what Javert would do with a boy. Still being incredibly curious, she decided to stick around and see what would happen to the boy.

***

The next morning she heard some gypsy children shouting. She crept closer to the cage and saw that they were poking through the cage with sticks. Then they ran off and Javert came. He started talking, muttering something about a corpse. If the girl had been a gypsy, she might have thought that Javert had captured a spirit, one of the living dead. Since she was not a gypsy, she thought that something must be wrong with the boy, that Javert would call him a corpse.

Javert soon left, and the girl attempted to venture closer. When she was as close as she dare go, not wanting to be caught she had to stay near the shadows. She watched as the boy attacked the lock in a frenzy, the first reaction one has when they're locked in a cage. Though she could not see his face, she noticed that the boy's finger's were long, thin, almost like they were nothing but bone.

After awhile the boy started to calm down. He sat down and started to observe his surroundings. As he turned towards her, she prepared to see something similar to the dead animals she had seen lying in a forest. When his face came into to view, she realized why he was called a corpse. His skin was so thin that you could see the skull outlined. Blue pulsing veins running under the skin were clearly visible. He had grossly malformed lips, and mismatched sunken eyes. Though not like the corpses she had seen, but very similar. As she looked on calmly, she did not realize that the boy was staring back at her until he gave a small wave with his hand and move his mouth, as if he were trying to ask her a question.

She didn't understand what he was trying to say. She would have tried to sneak closer, but it was almost noon, and she was lucky she hadn't been seen yet. To avoid being caught she hid in an unused tent. While there she took a nap. When she awoke it was getting late. Carefully she crept out of the tent and sneaked towards the cage.

Javert soon came and gave the boy some food and a patched blanket. The boy just asked if he could go home. Of course Javert wouldn't let him. The boy wouldn't eat either, and being overcome by curiosity, neither did the girl. She was never able to get close enough, but sometimes he would move his lips as though he were trying to talk to her.

After a couple days, Javert was tired of the boy whining to go home. He smacked the boy, and off in the shadows the girl started shivering. It was a warm night, but memories that the slap brought back sent shivers down her spine. The boy seemed to look at her questionably, but she just shook her head. Something inside her told her she should leave, but she found herself unable to turn away without knowing what the boy was trying to tell her. All Javert did was shove the rough, grainy bread down the boy's throat. The boy only vomited, and to the surprise of the girl, Javert actually seemed amused. With anyone else Javert would surely have gotten angry and just stuff more bread down the boy's throat, but not this time. No, this time Javert sat and waited patiently for the boy to eat. As they sat facing each other, the girl edged closer, being careful not to be seen, but hoping to get where she could hear what they were saying.

It was dark by the time the boy took the bread from Javert's hand and started to munch on it. Javert, satisfied that the boy was going to eat, got up, wiped his hands, and left. The girl realizing how hungry she was, sneaked quietly away, took some food, and decided to take a short nap.