Disclaimer: Alas, I shall never own the rights to Newsies... but I guess weaving them into complex story lines is almost as good. The forest belongs to me. Everyone else belongs to their creators respectively.

A/N1: Thank you everyone for responding! For future reference, shoutouts will always be at the bottom, simply because if I did them first, this entry would be ten pages long before the story even starts!

Chapter 2

The first thing Snitch became aware of, was a throbbing pain on the side of his head. The second thing he became aware of was that something, or someone was on top of him, and it/she/he was heavy. Quickly he brought his hand up to shield his eyes before daring to peel them open in the face of the glaring sun.

Sun? How long have I been... asleep? Unconscious?

Snitch bolted up, (as much as one can when one hundred and thirty or so pounds is pining you to the ground.) and took in his surroundings.

There were trees.

And grass.

"Mfrgg."

Snitch looked down.

And Dutchy.

"DUTCHY!" Snitch exclaimed, hugging his friend as though he were the answer to all of his prayers. Or at least trying to, it was somewhat difficult in their current position. Dutchy blinked up owlishly at Snitch.

"Where are we?" he asked. Snitch looked around again, as though the answer would present itself. Then he turned back to Dutchy and shrugged.

"I don't know." he said as Dutchy removed himself from his lap and stood up looking around now.

"How did we get here?" Dutchy asked again.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Snitch said, standing up and brushing the dirt off of his pants. "What's the last thing you remember?" He asked suddenly.

"Well, me and Specs were out, looking for you guys actually..."

The figure in white. Snitch thought to himself.

".... when we saw this person just standing there, she was dressed all in white and we thought that was strange..."

She beckoned without words. Snitch continued his own story in his head.

"..... she seemed to be calling to me, but she didn't make a sound..."

She went down the alley.

".... then she turned down this alley and we followed. Then there was this..."

"Flash of bright light." Snitch finished for him. Dutchy looked up sharply.

"It happened to you too." he said thoughtfully after a moment. Snitch nodded.

"Wait," Snitch said after thinking it over carefully. "Did you say Specs was with you?" He asked. Realization dawned on Dutchy's face, and he began to desperately scan the forest for signs of his best friend. "Don't worry Dutch, we'll find him." Snitch said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "A minute ago you said you were out looking for 'us', who's 'us'?"

"When we got back to the lodging house after we finished selling, there were seven people missing, including you." Dutchy told him.

"Do you think the same thing happened to them?" Snitch asked softly.

"I hope not." Dutchy said honestly. Snitch took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

"Alright," he said decisively, "Let's go look for Specs." He headed off in a random direction with Dutchy following close behind.

"SPECS!" The boys took turns yelling as they peered as deeply as they could into the underbrush. So intent were they on not missing any sign of him, they completely missed the three large shadows that passed over their heads. That is, until the owners of the shadows touched down right in front of them. Their were three teenage girls, seemingly no older than themselves.

Are those wings? Snitch thought to himself as the two parties sized each other up.

All three girls gracefully folded their long, dark wings onto their backs.

Yup, those are wings. Snitch answered himself unnecessarily.

"Umm, hi?" Dutchy ventured weakly after a long moment of silence. The tallest stepped forward, her sharp brown eyes landing on Dutchy. Snitch stared in wonder as he got a better view of her wings. They were a beautiful medium brown, with a band of white across the middle of each. Next he noticed that there were three feathers woven into a braid in her short brown hair which was a few shades darker than her wings. Snitch then looked to the other girls, the shortest had midnight black wings, hazel-green eyes, and hair very similar to the first girls. The other girl's hair was such a dark shade of brown that it could almost be considered black, her wings were a similar shade of brown as the first girls, but with hints of mossy green making them uniquely her own. Her eyes, which were the same startlingly dark shade as her hair, were fixed on Snitch, making him look away quickly. All three were dressed in loose fitting, earthy green dresses.

"What is your business here?" The girl who had stepped forward demanded suddenly, snapping Snitch out of his contemplation.

"We're lost." Dutchy said by way of explanation.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"My name's Dutchy, and this is Snitch." Dutchy said gesturing in Snitch's general direction.

"How did you get this far into the forest without being detected?"

Dutchy faltered, not knowing how to explain.

"We don't know." Snitch supplied. "But we didn't mean to."

The girl rolled her eyes.

"Come on Ginny." The shortest girl said, "I do not sense a lie, and their is no menace in their hearts."

"What do you want to do Ducky?" Ginny said looking over her shoulder at the girl who had spoken.

"Let's at least bring them somewhere safer." Ducky insisted. "Look, that one's bleeding, they may need our help."

Snitch reached up and gingerly touched the side of his head, which had hurt ever since he woke up. He looked at his fingers and saw that he was indeed bleeding.

"Buttons?" Ginny said, looking at the third girl. Buttons nodded.

"It would be better to question them there." She said.

"Follow us." Ginny commanded, with a definite 'or else' implied. The boys followed as best they could, and as they walked Dutchy glanced worriedly at the cut on Snitch's head.

"Hey Snitch," he whispered, "Are you.....?"

Okay. Don't panic. Kid Blink thought to himself as he continued his descent into the icy depths. There was a solid wall of water all around him, and he no longer knew which way was up. His lungs were screaming, burning, desperate for air.

This is how I'm going to die.

Just as he thought that, Blink felt something grab his arm. Suddenly their were lips pressed against his own, and his lungs filled as his rescuer breathed for him. After the initial shock wore off, Blink became aware of the fact that they were going up.

As soon as they broke the surface, Blink dragged gulps of air into his lungs, coughing and spitting up water. He furiously scrubbed the water off of his face, and opened his eye. There, before him in the water, was a girl. Her emerald green eyes shone from beneath her hair which had fallen into her face. Then Blink actually looked at her hair, and did a double take. Her hair, which was pooled around her shoulders, was all different shades of green, with black streaks mixed in.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly, looking almost shy.

"I think so." He said after he regained his breath. "Who are you?"

"My name is Imagine." She said. "What's your name?"

"My friends call me Kid Blink, or just Blink." He answered.

"It's a pleasure meeting you Blink, come, we must get you to more shallow waters." She turned and her shimmering black tail flipped up out of the water, flashing vibrant green where the sun caught it. Blink almost forgot to keep treading water in his shock.

"What are you?" He asked, hoping he didn't sound offensive.

"I am a mermaid," She explained, "Come with me and you can meet my friends."

"Do they all look like you?" Blink asked, privately cursing his big mouth.

"They are all mermaids yes." She said, grabbing his hand and guiding him through the water.

"Oh, and Imagine?" Blink asked.

"Hmm?"

"Thank......."

You would think that getting out of the city would make me happy. Pie Eater thought to himself as he walked along. But at least there are other people in the city, I haven't seen a soul since I woke up.

Coming out of the dense trees, he saw something he had never laid eyes on before.

The ocean.

The crystal blue broken steadily by lazy waves. A flash of bright purple startled him.

Great, now I'm seeing things. But there it was again, closer now, it looked like a fin, but who'd ever heard of a purple fish?

He started walking cautiously down the beach. Then, up from beneath the salty spray, came a girl, her burgundy hair gleaming in the afternoon sun.

"Excuse me, Miss?" He called, picking up his pace to a run. The girl's deep brown eyes widened in surprise, and she quickly ducked behind a nearby rock. "Please wait, don't go." Pie pleaded. "I won't hurt you!"

She hesitantly came back out where he could see her.

"Hi," He said smiling gently. "I'm Pie Eater."

"I am Chameleon." She said coming a bit closer.

"Do you live around here?" Pie asked, his eyes trained on her tail, but trying to be polite enough not to mention it.

"Yes," She replied, "I live in the lagoon, it's down the beach a little ways." She studied him for a minute. "Are you okay?" She asked finally.

"Well no, not really," He answered. "I'm sort of lost, I don't have a clue where I am or how to get back to where I was."

"That's horrible!" Chameleon exclaimed. "Follow me, we will go talk to Cricket, she will know what to do."

A/N2: Alright, here's the deal, I have over 50 characters, not including newsies. Therefore, it is going to take a long time to get to everyone, but I promise I will! Also, if your a mermaid and you weren't in this chapter, worry not! I didn't get to everyone 'cause I really wanted to get this chapter up. Now in case it confused anyone, when POV changes, what would have been the last word in the last sentence, is the first word of the new sentence. I honestly don't think that explanation made any sense, but hey, I tried. God, you guys are scaring me, everyone has such high expectations for this story, I hope it lives up to them. It should get better once I finish introducing everyone. The next chapter will be out as soon as I find time to write it. Probably a few days. Thank you all again!

Ink

Shoutouts!

(sorry these aren't more detailed)

Cassies-Grandma

Thumbsucker Snitch

Matchin' Laces

Coin

Erin Go Bragh

Checkmate

SpecsGlasses

geometrygal

Buttons14

Cerridwen4 Thank you!

Dimonah Tralon

Ccatt

skyonfireagain I don't have your profile! Could you please email it to me? If you didn't get my email please tell me and I'll send it again.

Moonlights Sundance

Madison Square

Lady of Tir Na Nog

Emotions

LegallyRed

Strawberri Shake

Trolley

Oxymoronic Alliteration

uninvisible

Written Sparks

SparkS Sorry, I already have a character named Cricket.

CiCi

Padfootismyhero

Sita-chan

Shooter O'Brien I don't have your profile! Could you please email it to me? If you didn't get my email please tell me and I'll send it again.

Dreamer Conlon

Ireland O'Reily

Matchin' Laces (again) : )

Vinnie Monfredo

shinigami nanoda I don't have your profile! Could you please email it to me? If you didn't get my email please tell me and I'll send it again.

Matchin' Laces (another again) If I need these characters I'll email you. For now I think I have enough. Thanks so much!

Glitz Kelly

If I missed anyone I'm really sorry! I hope you liked the chapter. Please review!

Ink