Heylo! We back! R'nt u happy? (u should b)

George closed the door behind Hayley as she entered. As soon as it latched, Heather turned toward Alanna and George with her hands on her hips, " Okay, it's driving me insane! Why does Alan's gender keep changing?

Yeah, it has been bugging me too, Jenny said.

George looked at Hayley and gestured a hand towards her, " Hayley, if you would."

Hayley looked at him with a confused look. Then nodded as if she understood. She turned to all four corners of the room and flicked aqua balls to them. The balls shrunk and then expanded until there was a huge aqua wall covering every part of the walls, floor, and ceiling. " Is that right? Did you want me to do that?" she asked George.

Heather jumped up and down and clapped her hands, " Do it again, do it again!"

Jenny turned towards Heather, "Stop acting like a three year old."

"I won't, mommy."

Jenny's response was to stick her tongue out at her older sister.

Hayley looked exasperated, "Will both of you quit acting like three year olds?"

Jenny gasped as if she couldn't believe someone would think that of her.

"She's right," George agreed, "Quiet and we'll explain."

Hayley stepped in the middle of the room, "Wait I was raised right and I listened to my elders, unlike some people, " she glared at Jenny and Heather who were giving each other mean looks.

Heather noticed everybody looking at her and her sister, " What did you say? Did you insult me?"

"Yes 'cuz there's so much to insult, " Jenny said like it was obvious.

"Haha very funny."

"Anyways, we must do proper introductions," Hayley continued.

"Didn't we do that?" Jenny asked.

Heather elbowed Jenny in the ribs, " She said proper introductions. See I was listening that time Hayley."

"Well as always since I am the most important person I shall go last, so I may get the attention I deserve," Jenny announced.

"Oh no you're not, you're going first," Hayley told her stubbornly while still trying to figure out exactly what Jenny meant.

"Yeah, we need to deflate your overlarge ego," Heather agreed.

"Humph."

Heather whispered in Alanna's ear, "That's her most used word." Alanna guffawed.

Jenny stuck her tongue at Heather , " I am Jennifer of Henbrooke, the Shang Ferret. Otherwise known as the cute one." (AN so true, hayley shut up- freke that is sooo not true, Wayne is and i know you know it, you just have to get used to the concept- Feiry)

Heather rolled her eyes, and Hayley said, " Jenny get over yourself. That old man outside with no teeth was cuter than you."

"If I wasn't a nice person.." Jenny growled.

"Wa-wa-wait. Shang....Ferret?" Alanna asked.

"It's quite an interesting story," George commented with a twinkle in his eye(he loved ineresting and different things).

"Yes Ferret," Jenny confirmed proudly as Hayley , " I never wanted to be Shang so I decided to make the masters hate me. I succeeded. And I figured I'd leave a mark, one everyone would remember. Ferret."

"Anyways. I'm Heather of Henbrooke, the Shang White Tiger, the crazy twin but in.

"Because of her temper," Hayley whispered under her breath.

"Unlike Jenny I am not a nice person..." Heather told Hayley leaving the rest to interpretation.

"Now, now no fights. You might break some of George's lovely décor or me. Most importantly me, " Jenny said.

"Mithros. I am Hayley of Henbrooke, the Shang Owl. Yes Owl." Hayley informed Alanna.

"What um interesting um names," Alanna commented.

"What do you mean?" Jenny asked, " Jenny, Heather, and Hayley. Those are pretty common-just like Alan."

"No I meant your Shang names- white tiger, owl,...ferret." It took all of Alanna's strength to utter the last name.

"Humph." came from an annoying part of the room. (guess who)

"Now me. I am Alanna of Trebond."

Hayley looked at Alanna, " But I thought your name was Alan."

"Yeah, I'm lost." Jenny agreed.

"We're in the woods!" Heather cried.

"Yeah!" Jenny jumped up and down with Heather as they held hands and faced each other.

"We're in the woods, we're in the woods, " they chanted together.

"Stop!" Hayley cried. " I'm so sick of the woods!"

They stopped, but Heather couldn't resist one more word, "But I gotta find the badger!" (A/N winnie the pooh " i will not sing it")

Hayley shot Heather a menacing look.

Hayley looked at Alanna, " So why are you Alanna here, and Alan out there?" She gestured out the door.

Alanna looked at George, " Should you explain or should I?"

"I will, you look like you need to sit down," George told her.

"I do not need to sit down!"

"You need to sit down."

"Fine, I'll sit, but I won't like it, " and with that Alanna grudgingly sat down. She crossed her hands. " It's my story, why can't I explain my story," she grumbled to no one in particular.

"When Alanna was ten, she and her twin brother Thom were to be sent to a convent,"

Heather, Hayley, and Jenny exchanged looks. " Ew," they said.

"Yes, the convent for Alanna and the palace for Thom. But neither wanted what was destined for them," George continued.

"For good reason," Heather muttered to Hayley, "who would want to go to the convent."

Jenny hummed something.

"So Alanna came up with a plan. Alanna would go to the palace disguised as a boy. She'd be known as Alan. Thom would go to the convent to become a sorcerer. He's done well there."

"When are you going to reveal your identity? Surely you're not going to be a guy forever," Hayley asked.

"When I get my shield I'll tell everyone," Alanna told her from her seat.

Heather slapped Jenny in the arm, " Why didn't you think of that?"

"Why didn't you? You wanted it so bad. You said you'd do anything. You'd think you would have come up with anything." Jenny retorted.

"Well you think you're the smart one! Prove it to us and think of these things!"

"You can't rely on me for everything!"

"Obviously. I learned that lesson a long time ago."

"Well you definitely haven't applied it!"

"Oh good one, but I can do better."

"Oh yeah, then say it!"

Hayley slapped the two of them upside the head, " Kids! We're Shang get over it! We didn't have to hide our sex! We're lucky."

"I guess you're right, " Jenny muttered rubbing the back of her head.

"Yeah," Heather agreed.

"Ahh for once they agree on something," George sighed.

Both of them stuck their tongue out at him.

"Yeah they do that every once in a while. Don't get used to it, " Hayley informed the others

George chuckled, " Alanna, look at this girl. She uses her Gift, she can break fights up, she has a sense of humor, and she can be ladylike. You should look up to her."

"I do she's taller than me," Alanna grumbled.

"You know what I mean."

Heather stood up, " See I told y'all I'm good for something. Thank you George."

"He wasn't talking about you. He was talking about Hayley," Jenny said, "I always knew you were conceited like me deep down inside."

Heather kicked Jenny in the shin.

"Could you please pick a new spot. You have no variety honestly. It's always in the exact same spot."

"I'm not even going to respond to that, " Heather said calmly.

"Thank you, George, " Hayley smiled at George for his previous comment.

" You're welcome, I meant every word."

Hayley blushed.

"Wait," Hayley remembered, " Does Alanna have magic?"

"Yeah, she does, but she never uses it." George scowled at Alanna.

" I have my reasons, " Alanna retorted.

"Is that true? You have the Gift, and yet you don't use it?" Hayley asked shocked that someone wouldn't want to use something like magic.

"I have my reasons, " Alanna repeated.

George looked at Hayley, " We'll just leave it at that. This is a fight I can never win."

Hayley nodded.

"So the thief does learn things," Alanna taunted.

Jenny looked back and forth from Alanna to George, " Will you two stop flirting."

"What!" the accused cried. One looked appalled at the very idea, one looked thoughtful.

Heather chuckled.

" Wait," Alanna said, " I'm confused. You have magic, and you're in Shang?"

" Jenny, you explain, " said Hayley.

" Glad to, " Jenny agreed with a huge smile, " We lied." Her smile grew until it spread across her face.

"Yeah, we had to. Hayley doesn't like to say it because she still feels bad about it." Heather added.

"I hate lying to people, " Hayley explained, " well unless it's necessary."

"And it was," Jenny said like this was an ongoing argument, " I never wanted to be Shang, but without it, you know.."

" Yeah I do, " Hayley said solemnly.

Alanna sat up in her seat, " What about your story?"

The three girls looked at each other.

"Our father kicked us out at four and five. Hayley and I were five, and Jenny was four."

Jenny looked down like she was remembering it.

" He didn't like how we fought all the time. He thought we were annoying, and he couldn't handle all three of us," Heather continued.

" What of your mother?" Alanna asked.

" She never fully recovered after us, and she wasn't ready for another pregnancy." Alanna looked at Jenny. " Our father didn't like how our servants pampered us. That's what he called it, anyways. So he kicked us out."

Hayley took over from here, "So we joined Shang. We walked to another town, and there was a Shang there who was taking students. He took us. Even Jenny at her young age. So for the past 11 years we've been in Shang."

"I hated Shang, " Jenny added, " That's why they let me graduate early. I made their life a living hell."

Hayley glared at Jenny, " We know you hated it because you hated not having a choice, but you didn't have to do that."

Jenny grinned, " But it was fun."

Heather nodded, " Yeah the looks on the masters face........ I'll never forget it. Come on Hayley, you have to agree."

Hayley smiled, "Yeah it was pretty good."

"See I'm good for at least one thing!" Jenny ran to her sisters and hugged them close, " You know you love me!"

George and Alanna grinned. " So you lied about your magic to get in Shang, and Hayley has the Gift so that means that Heather has the Gift too. Do you?'' Alanna looked at Heather who nodded. " And Jenny?"

" I don't have the Gift, I have Sight." Jenny told her.

" Yeah, she's as developed as I am, maybe even more, " George agreed, I tought her everything she knows.

" So how'd you meet George?" Alanna asked.

Heather started, "It was one of our days off to go into the city, and we met Rispah. Well I was trying to use my magic to pull an orange to me, and I couldn't do it." Hayley and Jenny laughed remembering the episode. Heather glared at her sisters, "And Rispah noticed my trials. She talked with us, and bought us each an orange. Well really she stole the orange, but that's beside the point. She watched over us from then on, and when we graduated she took us to Corus. That's how we met George."

" So have you lived in Tortall all your life?" Alanna asked.

" No, only since we were four. We lived in Scanra, but on the southernmost tip. So the next town we came to was in Tortall, but we didn't know that. Our mother was Tortallan though, and our father was Scanran. I don't know how she fell in love with him, "Hayley said.

"I always thought that he changed after mommy died," Jenny said.

"Yeah cause I don't remember him always like that." Heather agreed.

"Well I do, " Hayley said her heart full of resentment against her father.

George looked around the room as if searching for something,"Where's the rest of your party?"

Alanna's eyes widened, "There's more than you three?"

"Yeah, they're all downstairs, " Hayley said.

"Oh I have got to meet them."

"Why?" Jenny asked.

"To see if they're anything like you."

Heather nodded, " In a way............"

hehe we're done for this chapter!

o and i would like to thank hayley for helping me when i typed incorrectly. I luv u!
-freke

i know!
-feiry