Travis woke up in the early morning hours. He sat up and looked around at the other girls, who were still sleeping. They had taken refuge behind some garbage cans in an ally the night before. They looked so peaceful. He looked down at his twin sister. He had not seen Skylar look so carefree since before they ran away. It had been nearly seven months since the night they had all packed their belongings and fled from the city.

They had become used to the city streets now, easily blending in. They had all found ways of making money. Not much, but enough to get them food. Katie, who had always been good at drawing, sold some of her drawings to passers-by. Most only sold for a penny or two, but some of really excellent ones were bought by newspapers, used as cartoons for ads and one even made as a trademark! She sold them well, too. Skylar had been helping Katie, selling and by finding extra paper she found in trash bins. She had a good eye, and found them many things; extra food from restaurants, sacks to carry their things (their old bags had all ripped a long time ago), old clothes, seeing as the weather was getting colder, she and Skylar mended themselves, and even a small, worn-out, cotton, blue blanket. They all slept on it, though it was a tight squeeze. Still, it was better than nothing. The weather was colder now, and it was very chilly at night.

Travis didn't really have a specific thing to do. He found odd jobs in shops, cleaning and such. He entered this day looking for a new one.

"Where are you going look?" asked Skylar, once both girls had woken up and put on some of the extra clothes over their own.

Travis shrugged. "Maybe in one of the grocery shops. I could clean windows or something."

Skylar nodded. "That sounds okay. Just be careful, alright?"

Travis rolled his eyes and nodded. Skylar always looked out for him, even though he was older by nine minutes. He pretended to think it was silly, but underneath, he kind of liked it. He couldn't really explain it. Maybe it was a twin thing.

He walked out into the dirty street, shivering. Snow fell slowly and softly onto the ground. He coughed and rubbed his hands together. He hated winter. He hated the freezing wind that pushed against his face in the nipping morning air. He hated getting colds or having you're fingers taken two minutes out of gloves and get so frozen, they turn numb. He just hated it.

He walked around the shops, looking for, and failing to find, any odd jobs. He stopped. He had been outside for nearly two hours and was chilled to the bone. He looked around for the nearest shelter and found a pool hall nearby. He ducked inside.

It was crowded and smoky inside. It was warm, too, but he continued to shiver feverishly. He watched as men shot their sticks into the balls, trying to get them into the holes. 'It's kind of like marbles,' he thought as he observed them.

It looked so fun, so simple. He thought he might want to even give it a try.

At that moment, he saw a man hand over a wad of bills to the winner of the game that had just finished. His heart leaped. Of course, people make bets on these games. He do this easily. He could probably make money of it too. That would help them a lot. They could certainly use the money. He wanted to start right away, play a game and see how he did, maybe even make a couple of bucks. But that was rash. He knew he should check with the other two before he did anything.

He quickly ran out the door and back on to the cold street. It was snowing harder now, but Travis took no mind. He rushed around the corner and into the ally they were staying in.

"Sky, Kate, you'll never believe what I just-,"

Katie jumped up the moment she saw him. Her face was white and afraid. "Travis!" Her voice was breathless with anxiousness. "It's Skylar! She's in a horrid state. I don't know what to do! She got caught trying to steal some food of a cart. The guy beat her up real bad. She's all bloody and bruised. I did what I could, but I don't know what else to do!"

Travis ran to the blanket where they all slept at night. Skylar was lying on the ground curled up in the small blanket, shivering feverishly. She was indeed very bloody and appeared to be bruised all over. Her breathing was slow and jerky. He bent to her side and stroked her forehead. She was burning hot and sweating all over.

"Oh, Sky," he moaned. Her face was so pale. "You'll be okay Sky, I promise." He told her. "Everything's gonna be fine, don't worry."

"Trav," she said weakly.

"I'm right here, sis," he said.

"Trav, I'm not gonna make it."

He grabbed her hand. It was as cold as marble. "You'll be fine," he said, tears welling up in his eyes now.

"Trav, I can't."

"Yes, you are!" he cried desperately.

"I love you so much Trav," she said in a hoarse whisper. "You did so good. Look after Katie, okay?"

"No, Sky, no! You're going to pull through it! You're gonna be okay!" Tears splashed down his front as he took of his coat and put it on top of his sister, trying to keep her warm. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Be careful, Trav." She smiled feebly and her eyes closed and her hand dropped from his.

"No, Sky, NO!" He hugged her body tightly in his arms and cried and cried and cried as snow continued to fall, until he eventually sobbed himself to sleep.

Crutchy followed Pinch for most of the walk, letting her do the dirty work, tailing Race and Artist, making sure they would not catch them. He was already tired but would rather die than admit it. They had been walking for a while and Crutchy wasn't sure how long he could go.

Suddenly, Pinch stopped dead and Crutchy, not watching where he was going, walked right into her.

"Geez, sorry Pinch, wasn' watchin' where I was goin'."

"Shut up Crutchy! They'll here you!" she hissed at him.

"Sorry," he whispered. He looked carefully around the corner. Race and Artist were both walking towards the racetrack. "See?" he said to Pinch. "There just goin' ta da track tagether."

Pinch gave him a glare sharper than a needle point.

Crutchy decided to stop talking after that.

"Let's go," said Pinch, once they had entered the track. "We don't want to lose them in a crowd."

So they headed into the track, both becoming more curious and anxious by the second.

A/N: Ok, it was a little dramatic, but hey, i was totallly bawling when I wrote it. (Don't laugh, I am very attached to my charecters) Please REVIEW!

p.s. Shooter O'Brien- That's it with Skylar. Do you want to own her or not? I will gladly take her if no, but it is great if you say yes too.