hallo! i know it took a while, but here it is! remember connor? the prowler? yes, well, he's cerridwen's character (thanks so much!) and since he is an OC, i'll be asking all of you girls who would be interested in him - either as a friend or more. yes, some of you are already paired and some ARE still single. so just tell me, and i'll work out what i have.

*jumps up and down* be happy for me! y'know why?! 'cause i'm going to the valentines ball with my crush! hahah! *grin* all is right with the world... eh, for now... *thinks happy thoughts*

~*~

Broken Trance

~*~

"I don't know why you have to drag me into this," muttered Strider, her blue-green eyes still a shade of red from shifting and sleeping only a few minutes ago. "It's too early in the morning!"

"Don't tell me you didn't hear that sound a while ago!" answered Juan, as he ducked to cover another tree branch.

"I did… but I just went back to sleep."

Juan rolled his eyes and continued on with his searching. He was determined to find out what was the source of the mysterious sound that he had heard this early morning. Being the person, or prowler, that he was, Juan made the habit of sneaking off into places unknown to others – away from the prowlers. Not only that, but he couldn't hardly notice the sound when he was usually the first person to awake from the group.

"Juan, this is taking forever – can't we just go back?" said Strider, poking Juan on the shoulder. "I really want to go back to sleep… and if I don't, I won't have energy all day, which means – Francis will be on my case on why I won't be able to keep up with-."

"Look."

Strider turned her eyes to where Juan was pointing. His finger motioned towards the blue ocean, where a small dot of white loomed above the rest.

"What? That?!"

"Yeah…"

"It's just the ship that… it brings people or something… nothing important about it," said Strider, shrugging off Juan's remarks.

"It's sinking."

"Good for it then."

Juan sighed. His eyes stayed fixed on the figure of the ship, its outline slowly disappearing from the ocean until it was lost completely. It didn't take him long to notice the colorful shimmers that surrounded the ship. They too, slowly disappeared, the ocean turning once again into a deep blue, seeming as if nothing had happened. But Juan squinted his eyes and looked out at the ocean, curiosity gripping within him. A wave of colors caught his eyes at a cluster of rocks not too far away from the beach. Mermaids.

He didn't know whether to run or stay. But his curiosity got the best of him. Nobody had told the prowlers about the mermaids' characteristics. To them, they were just another group or clan that lived on the island. They didn't bother to question it. It wasn't their business.

"Juan, where are you going?" said Strider, following Juan towards the beach. "It's just a silly ship that sank. Great. It's not going to affect us."

He took a step forward, moving closer to the beach. Prowlers usually took caution when moving on to places resided by natives, but Costelos was a huge island – and there were thousands of beaches around, beaches that were unoccupied.

He felt the sand beneath his toes and the salty water sprinkle his face as his thoughts swirled about him. Hesitantly, he took another step forward, but soon realized that his foot had hit something rock solid. He was incapable of moving and he didn't know why.

His eyes looked down to see what was blocking to see his way. Expecting to see a rock, seaweed, or even a rotten tree log, but Juan was greeted with something else. A mass of long curly dark brown hair covered the creature's face, her body turned over to the side. Juan's eyes traveled down her body, her arms were scattered with bloody scratches and gashes that seemed to contrast with her pale skin. He couldn't help but gasp and stare as he tried to look for her legs – but was instead greeted by a flash of orange that came from the creature's scales and fin. Unbelievable. A mermaid up close.

"Is that… what I think it is?" said Strider, walking up next to Juan.

Juan opened his mouth to answer, but closed it when a groan erupted from the mermaid, her hands moving ever so slowly from the pain in an attempt to stand up and move the heap of hair away from her face. She blinked, shielding her hazel eyes from the brightness of the sun as she gasped and found the two before her.

"We… we didn't do anything… Irish, she…" muttered the mermaid.

"Did this have anything to do with the ship sinking?" said Juan, finally finding his voice as he knelt down next to her.

"Juan!" muttered Strider through gritted teeth. "She's a mermaid! Don't you see? She might…"

"I might what?" spat the mermaid. "Suffocate you to death if I touch you?"

"Look, I don't care about any of those silly myths that they-."

"Really? I think you just contradicted yourself."

"Look – being a prowler is hard enough and I bet -."

"Hold on!" shouted Juan, confused from all the commotion. He then turned towards the mermaid and said, "Do you remember anything… how you got here?"

"I remember everything perfectly clear," retorted the mermaid with hatred at Juan. "Now, if you'll please let me back in the water…"

Juan, completely taken aback from the mermaid's comment, stared at her for a minute. He could sense that something was wrong. Being a prowler gives you special talents and sensing things were one of them. He looked into her eyes and saw them cloud over. Something was hidden and he couldn't find out why.

"Can't we just leave you here to dry?" said Strider with mock-enthusiasm. "She'd be a good addition to the loot."

The mermaid's eyes widened, her hands turned chilly and cold, the nails at the tip of her fingers stretched to a point where a scratch could be an easy way to kill, and her orange scales turned into a deep red. A loud shriek escaped her mouth as she lunged forward in an attempt to scratch and grab Strider's leg.

But Strider moved back effortlessly, as she quickly changed into her prowler form, a wolf. Her blond coat glistened against the sunshine and her blue green eyes stared back at the mermaid with hatred and fury. Numerous barks and growls escaped from Strider, baring her weapons, deadly sharp white teeth.

"Strider!"

"Prowlers…" muttered the mermaid softly, her image turning back to what she was before. "You aren't natives."

"Now if you and Strider hadn't started bickering…" but Juan stopped suddenly, realizing that the mermaid can easily unleash the deadly personality he had just seen.

"Put me back in the water," demanded the mermaid. "Please."

Strider moved back even more, and growled at the mermaid.

"Why should I?"

The mermaid sighed and looked up at Juan hopefully. "Being a mermaid isn't that easy – but it's all I have. It's that or nothing."

Hesitantly, Juan picked her up, making sure not to anger her, afraid of another transformation. He waded into the water, and finally when he was knee deep, he slowly let her down upon the salty water.

"We're more similar than you think," mumbled Juan, as he watched her disappear down into the depths of the water, leaving only a trace of orange shimmer from where he was standing.

~*~

He felt the sand between his fingers and the roughness of the sand against his body as he lay on the beach, the waves hitting his feet every now and then. His energy had fled from him and he was nowhere near willing to get up and walk. His eyes had stung from the salty water and his muscles ached from the swim to shore. His mind was a whirl as he tried to remember what had happened. The ship sinking and swirls of colors. It was just too much to handle at the time.

Adam groaned, feeling a sharp object poking his back. He turned to side, squinting from the brightness of the sun, in an effort to see what was before him. He sighed, making up his mind that it was just probably some loose animal and collapsed back on the beach.

"He's alive, that's for sure," said Rain, a girl with waist length blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

"Should we take him?" asked Darryl Seymour, running his hand through his unkempt hair. "He looks really sad just lying here and all, but just think of what Shawn would say."

"We can't just leave him here – he can be one of us."

"Him?!" exclaimed Julio, pointing at the limp figure before him. "Do you think Shawn would even consider turning him into a warrior? We don't even know what he is! For all I know, he could probably be a prowler and turn on us! If not, then a native – then go back running to the village just to shun us once again from society!"

"Shun… good word, Julio," said Darryl, nodding towards him in amusement.

"I say we bring him back."

"Back where? To the village for all of them to see? We're warriors… not their servants They've done enough damage-."

"But what if he's not? He could be an elite…" muttered Rain, pressing on the issue.

"That's even worse!"

"Julio! Why do you have to keep on looking at the bad side of things?!"

"What can I say? I'm a pessimist!"

Rain rolled her eyes at Julio and groaned. She looked at the body before her. She concluded that the boy had an Asian descent, because of his silky black hair. He laid on the sand, back facing towards them, unable for them to make out other features. Rain sighed, knelt down on the figure, and hastily picked him up with her hands. She felt every muscle in her body jolt from the weight brought down upon the person, but she carried on. After a few staggering steps, Rain stood in front of Julio and Darryl the boy in her arms.

"Now we know that you can carry a man – great job, Rain. Let's just go back to being the lookout, alright?"

"Geez, Rain, I didn't know you were that strong!" exclaimed Swifty in shock.

Instead of replying to the two, Rain stood there, looking at her two companions, waiting for them to budge. She knew it would be any moment now.

"The things we do for you… really…" muttered Darryl as he stepped forward and took the boy from her arms. He groaned as he easily lifted him up and carried him on his shoulders.

"We?"

"Yes, we," said Rain with confidence, a smile playing on her lips.

"I swear – if Shawn blows his guts out on us for doing this, I'm saying it was your fault!"

Adam groaned as he felt himself being picked up and moved around. He kept his eyes closed, still not used from the brightness of the sun. Every muscle in his body ached with pain and the amount of throbbing going on in his head didn't help either. Even though his hearing was still a bit faulty, he could still carry out bits and pieces of the conversation. He didn't who or what they were. But the sure thing was, they were willing to help him. Or at least one of them was. He had no choice but to let them take him.

~*~

Max walked out of the infirmary, wiped his forehead with his hand and sighed. It had been a long day, that was for sure. Both for the natives and the elites. Nobody thought that the Ambassador was going to sink down into the ocean. They didn't think that the mermaids could do enough damage to cause that. But they obviously did. Thoughts swirled around his head as he took in a moment's peace from the on-going commotion before.

What Kaitlin found on the beach was surprising, but what was intriguing, was that the elites survived. People scrambling on the beach, natives running here and there, and pieces of the ship floated about the ocean. With all their strength, they had carried the three to the nearest house that they could find. Minutes later, another elite was found; this time it was a girl.

Through effort, strength, and determination, the four elites were finally placed into the infirmary. A temporarily safe place for them. Max wouldn't be surprised if the elites woke up confused as ever – it was a miracle that they had even survived. But the point was that there were only four – there were always more than four. Four elites was just too little a number.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back to bed? You've taken quite a…"

"No, I'm fine."

The door to the infirmary opened, causing Max to quickly turn around to face Lute and one of the elites, the girl. Unaware of what to say, Max nodded at her and gave a smile, afraid of what might happen. Older, much older, elites were usually sent to Costelos. It was known that if they weren't treated with respect, or act as if they were the gods of the earth, there was punishment to be dealt with.

"Is this all of us?" asked the girl. "There still more of us… there out there! Shouldn't someone go get help and look for them? We can't just leave them!"

Pain and fear was written all over the girl's face. No doubt she would be looking for the others. They knew this was going to come up sooner or later.

"You were all that we found," answered Max simply. "No one else."

"But…"

"We'll figure that out later," cooed Lute. "When the others are awake. For now, food's coming…"

Liselle trudged up the steps of the infirmary, her straight long her bouncing up and down from her quick steps and her blue eyes twinkled with delight. In her arm was a basket, filled with food nonetheless, covered with a small white napkin.

"Hello, the name's Liselle. Welcome to Costelos."

"Hi… my name's Corie Leighway. The others in there are David and his brother, Luke. The one with glasses is Mark."

Corie turned her eyes towards the two other strangers that she had seen earlier that morning, waiting for their introductions to come.

"Erm, Max. Lute's the one that's helping you right now."

Corie simply nodded, her thoughts still clouded from the events that had happened that day. A thought struck in her mind as she stared out into the ocean – she could've died. Although her body was still in pain, her memory was intact. She remembered slowly sinking down into the deep blue water, not being able to breathe. But someone, something, took her and helped her. More likely, saved her. She didn't know how she had gotten to shore – the natives thought she was washed up and fought for her survival. But to her knowledge, she had nothing.

She pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind as she suddenly saw a figure walking on the beach. A girl, by the looks of it, the same age as her. Her shoulder length black hair was tousled and unkempt, the wind moving it here and there. But what Corie noticed was that it was wet.

Corie let out a gasp as she noticed who it was. Kyriel.

She willed herself to walk down the steps of the infirmary and onto the beach, the three natives following her. She suddenly stopped in her tracks, realizing that something was different. The atmosphere around Kyriel wasn't the same. She was usually loud and talkative at times, a bit cynical, but always the life of the party. Her black eyes looked clouded over, her eyes open wide as she took one step at a time. Her pale skin glowed even brighter in contrast to her hair and her eyes. This wasn't Kyriel. Sure, it was the same face, the same hair, the same skin, but the soul was different. Horrifyingly different.

"Who is she? Another Elite?" asked Liselle in concern.

Corie dumbly nodded as she watched Kyriel move forward, and said, "Yes… and no."

"There's something wrong, isn't there?" asked Max. "She doesn't even act or look human."

"It's Kyriel… but… not the same…"

Only inches away from her face, Kyriel looked at Corie briefly, and then turned her gaze at the natives, looking at them one by one. An eerie silence crept about them, adding to the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks. Suddenly, Kyriel's eyes turned into a chocolate dark brown and her straight black hair slightly curled. Corie felt as if she was looking at someone else entirely.

"Kyriel!" shouted Corie, putting her hands on Kyriel's shoulders, shaking her from her trance. "Come on! It's Corie, here!"

"She's dazed…" muttered Lute. "We have to take her inside…"

"No! She'll snap out of it, I'm sure! She always does this!"

Corie let out a gasp as Kyriel's eyes suddenly turned white, her hair turned back to its original form, and a loud suffocating noise escaped from Kyriel's lips. She tried her best to take in air from around her, to simply breathe. Kyriel's knees suddenly buckled benath her, her whole body turning limp, as her eyelids fluttered to a close and fell conveniently into Max's arms.

"She's alright… she's okay… she'll be fine, don't worry…" said Lute, looking down at Kyriel with concern. "Come on, Max, let's…"

But nobody listened to Lute's ramblings. A small silver outline stood right before Corie, the outline of a person. Although Corie could see its face, arms, and hands – everything that made up a person, she could still see right through him.

"It's a spirit," said Max, holding Kyriel in his arms. "He's tried to take her over…"

The spirit looked at his hands, his eyes wide with fright and his breathing slightly staggered. He turned his gaze towards Kyriel, the girl that he had occupied only a few minutes ago. His eyes turned into two thin slits as he looked at the people before him, his face full of confusion. His emotion built up against him, his body slowly trembling from what had just happened.

"I… I… I didn't do anything to her…"

With that, the spirit vanished quickly into thin air, leaving them dumbfounded.

~*~

Shout-outs

Socks Meyers: *nod* yup, it sank! thanks for the review! ^^

Irish Rain: Aw, thanks! ^^ It took me forever to get this up, so hopefully you'll like it even more!

Eire: No editing mistakes? That's good then - I usually have some lying around here and there. :P Hahah, awesomeness! I like how that sounds! As for the characters, I didn't make any of them - they all replied to the CC. Really, i can't come up with characters either!

Written Sparks: hehhe, yesh, your two characters are in it - but i WILL have the do more things in the ff!

geometrygal: tsk tsk, look what you did! hahah, jk - more about how the ship sank will come eventually.

klover: aw, that's alright. technology can be sometimes a good or bad thing - too bad we rely on it too much. :P i can't imagine a place without computers. i'd have nothing to do!

justduck: hey duckie! *glomp* hmm, you'll see! 10dames will be takin' a while to update... still thinkin' of what to do next.

Inquisitive: haha, you asked for more, here ya have it!

sheengale: hey beena! wow, i was surprised that you reviewed my ff! it came outta nowhere! haha, thanks anyways. keep on updating your ff too, okay?

Frenchygoil: i know, poor specs! :( hahah, but he'll cope. are you asking if connor is an animal? if you are, then yes, he is. hahah, frenchy you have so many questions! but that's a good thing! lol. you never stop to question, don't you? anyways, peter pan sitll hasn't come out over there? you have to watch it, really! its so cute! the movie and peter pan, both. lol.

Blaze Lanigan: ack, true. thanks. but i'm slowly beginning to get everything down to who's who and what. ^^

Cards: lol, thanks! hahah! *mumbles* i'se writing... i'se writing...

Strider: *glomp* i'm so sorry!!! *mumble* i wuff you. but look! *points at top of chapter* its you! hahaha! that's what writing late at night gets me. :P

Cat: y'know, greek mythology is actually my inspiration of where i'm getting some of my ideas - especially since i'm taking that class this semester. funny, huh? but it won't be so much like it that you'll recognize what's going on. this is ershey mythology for you.