Author's Note: ...((smiles apologetically)) Hey, it's only been about a millennium since I last updated this thing. Please don't glare at me like that…

Disclaimer: The newsies belong to Disney, casting call OC's belong to their respective owners, and any song lyrics belong to their respective bands/artists. I do, however, own anyone who looks good in a lab coat.

See the sky, the burning rain

She will die and live again

Tonight...

-A Sort of Homecoming, U2

Scout.

There was something about the way the moonlight touched the Island that made everything seem almost surreal, the trunks of trees and the bodies sprawled across the damp sand bathed in a dim silvery light. It wasn't real moonlight, but it was the closest thing to real moonlight I was ever going to see, what with artificial sunlight shining 24 hours a day back in the real world.

The real world.

Something alarmingly close to nostalgia passed briefly through me, making me give an involuntary shudder. I hated it here. I hated what I was doing, and I hated the looks of trust and admiration on everyone's faces when they looked at me. I had to find Jack.

I pulled myself to my feet and pushed back my untidy hair, once so dark but now bleached oddly from the sun. There was a strange sensation in my throat not unlike the feeling that comes after swallowing a pill without water, and I seriously doubted that it was going to go away any time soon. Great. The last thing I needed was to break down and cry in front of Jack, of all people.

I found him walking along the beach with his hands in his pockets, staring down at the sand. He looked up when he saw me coming towards him, and his face took on an oddly blank expression. "I dunno if I can do this anymore," he said hollowly.

I smiled and looked out over the water. "Do you think it's possible to drown yourself in this ocean?" I asked, not really wanting an answer.

"You know it's just an illusion. It only goes out fifty feet or so, and the rest is pure computer animation."

"But it looks so goddamn real."

Jack sat down on the sand. "Do you think Stewart's watchin' us now? He said he'd personally make sure we did our jobs, but since we got the cameras outta the trees..." He shrugged. "How's he supposed to know?"

"There's gotta be more cameras out there," I said, looking over my shoulder into the woods. "We couldn't've gotten 'em all. He can still find us and make sure we're turnin' everyone against each other."

"Why the hell does he want everyone split up like this, anyway?"

I shrugged. "I didn't bother to ask when I took the job. I needed the money, and he said he had a job requiring special talent. I didn't really think about it, and I know you didn't, either..."

"What I hate most is the Hound," said Jack softly.

The Hound.

I found myself looking back at the woods again, my jaw set. I could just see the gleaming eyes, the powerful jaws, the glossy fur that looked as though it had been cut out of the night sky, covering a smooth, perfect mechanical framework. It could crush my skull in an instant if it wanted to. For the first time in my life, I'd been living in a state of constant terror.

"It won't hurt us," I said, more for my benefit than for Jacks. "Stewart promised. So long as we do our jobs, the Hound won't come near us."

"But what about Blink? Nani? Bel? Christ, Scout, Boots is barely five feet tall — imagine what the Hound could do to him." Jack ran his fingers through the sand. "Stewart never guaranteed the safety of everyone else."

"The Hound's only there to add a fear factor," I said. "It won't actually hurt anyone; it's only there to act as a predator and help to undo the evolutionary process... It's perfectly safe, all right?"

Jack looked up at me. "Do you actually believe all that, Scout?" he asked.

I bit my lip. Everything was getting so fucked up... When I accepted the job from Dr Stewart, I never realized that I'd be dealing with real people, real emotions, real relationships, and now it struck me just how far he was willing to go to make sure his experiment was a success. Would he really kill someone? I wouldn't be surprised. I suddenly felt incredibly sickened by myself, by the fact that I was helping him go through with this.

"Scout?"

I blinked and looked down at Jack. "I should probably go back to bed," I said. "Someone might notice we're gone, and I don't know what the hell's gonna happen if we're found out. Stewart might seriously kill us."

"He's probably gonna kill us anyway," said Jack grimly, but he stood up and brushed his hands off on his pants. "Meet you here tomorrow, same time?"

"There is no time on the Island, Jack."

He exhaled heavily. "Night, Scout."

Bel.

All things considered, life on the Island was treating us pretty well. None of us missed having to wear the standard uncomfortable, stiff, black boots we were required to wear in the real world. Nobody was yearning for the chores expected of us in our orphanage homes, which often included cleaning out the elaborate and pretty disgusting oral hygiene devices stored in the cupboard above the sink. And absolutely no one was upset that we were no longer being segregated by gender at all times.

However, I'm sure that every one of the teenagers being held captive on the Island were desperately missing one thing — real food.

"You know, as much as I love fresh fish," said Coin as she stabbed fruitlessly at the water, "it's a bit of a turn-off when you think about the fact that they've been swimming in the same water that Blink peed in not much earlier."

"The world is my urinal!" Blink announced happily, diving forward with his spear.

"It's really astounding how little time you spend with Spot," I remarked. "You two have quite a lot in common."

Blink shrugged and pulled his spear out of the water, a fairly large fish wriggling at the end. "Spot's a little too hyperactive for me," he said as he carefully removed it and tossed it onto the sand. "And I've got to pee."

"Blink, I'm beginning to suspect that your bladder is the size of a walnut," said Coin seriously.

"Shut up, Coin."

The three of us were soon joined by Bandit and King, who were talking as though they had been friends for years. "Morning," said Bandit amiably, spotting us. "Nothing like wading through icy water to really wake a person up, eh?"

I grinned. "Amen to that."

"How goes the fishing so far?" King asked.

"I've caught three!" Blink declared.

"And he's peed twice," added Coin.

"Shut up, Coin!"

King sighed and adjusted her grip on her makeshift spear, her eyes on the water. "It looks as though we're going to be having fish for breakfast again," she said, darting forward. "Man, I'm getting sick of this. Where the hell have all the bananas gone?"

Blink opened his mouth to answer, but I cut him off. "Rhetorical question, Blink."

"Oh." He grinned at me, shading his eyes with his hand to block out the early morning sun, and I felt a slight tingle on the back of my neck. I quickly turned back to the water.

Coin was getting rather frustrated. "I am so — goddamn — sick — of — fish!" she said irritably, stabbing jerkily at the water. "If I don't catch this next one, I'm going to hurt someone, and I'm serious about that threat."

She caught it, luckily, and returned back to her usual, cheerful self. Bandit smiled nervously and quickly looked away.

"HURRY UP WITH THOSE FISH, 'CAUSE I AIN'T WAITIN' FOREVER TO START COOKIN'!" Nani yelled from the shore where she was kneeling by the fire.

"Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on," Blink muttered.

"I AIN'T TAKIN' MY PANTS OFF, EITHER!"

"It really makes a person wonder how Bumlets can sleep through all this," said King thoughtfully, looking back at the sleeping form of the Hispanic boy. "Everyone else woke up hours ago... Do you think he, like, died or somethin'?"

"He's been sleeping later and later ever since the other guys went to the other side of the Island," said Coin grimly. "I think he and Swifty were really close."

I looked over at him. "He shouldn't do that. It's not healthy," I said.

"Nothing Bumlets does is healthy," said Bandit. "He's almost as screwed up as I am, and that's sayin' somethin'."

I glanced at the image imprinted his arm but didn't say anything. King suddenly found the palm of her hand extremely interesting and avoided everyone's gaze, her hair falling in front of her eyes. There was a brief, awkward silence.

"HEY KYRIEL, YOU WANNA WAKE BUMLETS UP?" I called, cupping my hands around my mouth.

Kyriel looked up from the fire. "WHY? HAVE MERCY, BEL, HE SEEMS HAPPIER WHEN HE'S ASLEEP!"

"YEAH, BUT I'M GROWING CONCERNED THAT HE'LL GO INTO A COMA IF HE SLEEPS FOR MUCH LONGER!"

"All right, I'm getting out," said Blink as Chris hurried to wake Bumlets up.

"Why?" I asked.

"'Cause I'm sick of being wet," he replied, and he made his way out of the water and proceeded to shake himself out like a dog next to the small pile of fish we had caught.

"An odd one, that Blink Parker," said Coin thoughtfully.

"Indeed," I agreed, and stabbed viciously at the water. I paused. "I'm getting out, too," I said after a moment.

"Conformist."

"Shut up, Coin." I grinned at her and made my way out of the water, spear swung over my shoulder. "Considah yerself well in! Considah yerself paht o' the fuhnichah! Theah isn't a lot to shaih! Who cares? Wha'evah we got, we shaih!"

"That is quite possibly the worst cockney accent I have ever had the pleasure of hearing," Blink commented from the ground where he was cleaning out one of the fish. "You've just raped one of the greatest show tunes of all time, Bel. Congratulations."

"Aw shut up, as if you could do better," I said pleasantly, plopping down beside him and sticking my spear into the sand.

"I can," he said calmly without looking up from his fish.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep."

"Fine, then. Do it."

And he did. And it was beautiful.

And that was the day that I, Christabel Forrester, fell hopelessly, desperately, and completely in love with Kid Blink Parker. It was absolutely pathetic, and I was deliriously happy.

Blink didn't seem to notice. He was going pee.

Bandit.

Somehow, looking at King was like being home again.

"Ooh, there it goes!" Coin yelped, diving forward. "C'mere, little fishy — DAMMIT!"

She made me think of when Marie and I used to sit on out parents' bed and play some stupid, old-fashioned game — "Go Fish" or something. And how I would always lose on purpose so as not to hurt her feelings. I could never handle a crying kid.

"Aha, I've got you now! THERE IS NO ESCAPE! SURRENDER!"

She wasn't particularly pretty or anything, I thought idly, running my fingers along the edge of my spear. I mean, there was nothing wrong with her face — she was just fairly average looking. Nothing special.

"Ohh, and now you're darting between my legs? As if that would ever work, you conniving little—"

No, it wasn't her appearance; it was something else. Something about her personality that made her so easy to talk to, something about the way she was able to listen to me and not freeze up every time she saw my tattoo, something about her smile that made me feel—

"You shall be breakfast, whether you like it or not!"

So—

"Give up! You lose!"

Incredibly—

"She dives forward, she shoots, she sc—"

There was a tremendous splash, and Coin flung herself into the water, letting out a wild war cry and thrusting her spear forward. King leapt backwards out of shock and knocked into me, causing the pair of us to fall back into the water, one on top of the other. "Holy—"

"AHAHA! I GOT 'IM!" Coin yelled, and she lifted her spear, victorious, for the entire world to see. "This just goes to prove that talking to your food does indeed make a difference. I, ladies and gentlemen, am a genius."

King and I gave her blank looks. "Have you lost your mind?" asked King.

"You ever read Lord of the Flies?" said Coin.

"Yeah, once."

"Y'know how the island started to drive 'em all crazy after a while?"

"Yeah...?"

Coin smiled. "That book is much more realistic than it seems," she said sagely. "Once your creature comforts are gone, your sanity follows soon after. I speak from experience."

"Right." King glanced at me, one eyebrow raised but a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

I shrugged. "Don't ask me, I just live here," I said.

"ARE YOU QUITE DONE FISHING YET?" Nani called impatiently from the shore. "THIS FIRE AIN'T LASTIN' FOREVER!"

"WE'LL BE OUT IN A SEC, ALL RIGHT?" King yelled. She turned back to me, dark eyes slightly wider than usual. "Bandit, I need to talk to you," she said.

I tilted my head to the side and looked out over the water, avoiding her gaze. "About what?" I asked in a would-be-casual manner.

"I dunno." She bit her lip and looked down at her hands. "I guess—"

"Just outta curiosity, are you two planning on sitting on each other for the rest of the morning?" asked Coin seriously. "Because if you are, I'm getting out now."

King grinned at her, stood up, and offered me a hand, which I accepted. "The thing is," she continued quietly as if there had been no exception, "I feel kinda funny."

Under any other circumstances, I would have laughed. Classic King, to take something as delicate as how she was feeling right now and turn it into something rough and easy to deal with. A stomachache. "Yeah." I cleared my throat awkwardly and looked down at our hands, which were, oddly enough, still laced together. "Yeah, me too."

Coin stabbed at the water. "I feel like such a third wheel," she muttered.

"I mean, I'm not about to say that you don't have issues." King reached up and touched the tattoo on my arm, then pulled back and looked at me. "'Cause you do. But, Bandit, man..." She stopped suddenly.

"Yeah?" I said after a moment.

"I dunno, I just think that maybe you could, like..." King licked her lips, searching for the words. "...try to get over it, y'know? Not completely, of course, but enough to..."

I finally met her gaze, frowning out of confusion. "To what, King? What the hell are you tryin' to say?"

And that was when she leaned forward and kissed me full on the lips.

"I knew it!" Coin laughed, sitting down in the water and dropping her spear. "I knew they liked each other, I knew it! HAHA, THIS IS GREAT! Ohh, where's Dutchy, he owes me a dollar! DUTCHY!"

"HE'S HIDING BEHIND BUMLETS!" Skittery yelled from where he was burying Kyriel in the sand. "Holy crap — BANDIT, WOO HOO! YOU GO, MAN!"

I wasn't listening. I guess you could say I was a little distracted.

Chris.

The word "loud" was beginning to take on a completely new meaning for me.

Not that I myself was not generally loud. In fact, back at the orphanage I had been unofficially dubbed "Mouth" because of how much I liked to talk, so it wasn't as if I was unused to the idea of loudness.

The thing is, girl loud is as entirely different as it is possibly to be from guy loud. And I can tell you, guy loud is much scarier.

"I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me!" sang Dutchy.

"He's just a poor boy from a poor family! Spare him his life from this monstrosity!" sang Specs, Crutchy, Pie Eater, and Boots.

"Easy come easy go, will you not let me go?"

"Bismillah! No, we will not let you go!"

"LET HIM GOOO!"

"Bismillah! We will not let you go!"

"LET HIM GOOO!"

"Bismillah! We will not let you go!"

"LET ME GOOO!"

"ALL RIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH 'BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY' FOR TODAY!" yelled Spitfire, clapping a hand over Dutchy's mouth before he could continue. "As much as I love Freddie Mercury, you guys are positively butchering this song and I think Nova is on the verge of tears."

"I am not!" Nova lied.

"Do bananas have an off-season?" I wondered aloud. "This is ridiculous; I haven't seen one banana tree since, like, the day before the day before the day before yesterday. It's like they all just got up and left one day."

"I'm sure that's exactly what happened," said Specs, rolling his eyes.

"Well where else could they be?"

The eight of us had been sent against our will to go and fetch some bananas for breakfast, probably because Bel, Blink, and Coin were going on a sort of hunger strike because they were so sick of fish. I found it rather interesting that the three of them hadn't been sent to gather bananas, but in the end it didn't matter. We had developed a sort of reciprocal economy here on the Island, and they'd end up going for bananas later on. It all evened out eventually.

Nova chewed on her thumbnail thoughtfully. "What month was it when we were last in the real world?" she asked.

"August," said Boots.

"So now it should be, like, late September, right?"

"I guess so..."

She looked up. "Do you think the bananas are gonna be here all year round?" she said suddenly.

"Are we gonna be here all year round?" Pie Eater demanded.

"I hope so."

"Not if there aren't any bananas!"

"I SPY SOMETHING YELLOW!" Spitfire yelled, and she went sprinting off into the trees. "AHA!" we heard her exclaim. "This has gotta be the last banana tree on the whole goddamn Island, don't you think? C'mere, guys, help me get 'em down."

We made our way over to her and examined the tall banana tree she had found. "They look kinda overripe," Crutchy remarked.

"Beggars can't be choosers," said Boots. "They'll be fine. Now who's gonna let me get onto their shoulders so we can reach?"

"Specs will," said Dutchy.

"I will?" said Specs.

"Yes, you will."

"Oh. Okay."

"We certainly got landed with an eccentric group of people," I commented to Nova.

She grinned. "Yeah. I mean, what were the odds that half the kids on the Island would be almost completely outta their minds?"

"Well, most people are outta their minds, these days."

"Point taken."

We had gathered a pretty decent amount of bananas and were just designating banana-carriers when we heard it. Quiet at first, but growing steadily louder — a gentle rustling in the woods not far to the left, as though a fairly large animal was trying to keep us from hearing it coming. I looked up from the cluster of bananas I was holding, but there was nothing there.

Pie Eater glanced at me, eyes wide. "Did you hear that?" he asked softly.

I nodded, and the pair of us stared unseeingly into the woods. It suddenly struck me how dark they were, even this far into the day — the canopy of leaves and branches above made an endlessly moving network of green shadows across the ground, and the trees were huge and close together. I had never before felt so claustrophobic.

The sound came again to our right, and this time everyone looked up. "What the hell was that?" Spitfire murmured.

"It sounded..."

"Big?"

"I think I'm gonna hurl."

"Don't hurl on the bananas, Crutchy, that's all we have right now. Unless you want fish again."

"Good idea, Chris. I'll hurl on you, instead."

"Guys! Shhhhhh!"

Everyone froze and looked back into the woods, and I could almost feel the tension radiating from everyone. It had just occurred to me that it if was something to be worried about — a saber tooth tiger or something — it wouldn't think twice about killing us now. There was no one to protect us.

Holy sh—

"Okay, I vote we get the hell outta here," said Nova quietly, hugging her bananas to her chest.

"I second that," Boots agreed. "Let's go."

We hurried back in the direction we came in, looking determinedly ahead and willing ourselves not to see or hear anything we didn't want to. I was scared. I was so goddamn scared that I was practically clinging to Dutchy's arm, ignoring his occasional yelps of pain. When we reached camp, there would be bright fingerprints all along his forearm. A souvenir.

After a few minutes, I couldn't help myself. I looked back over my shoulder.

At first I didn't see anything except moving shadows and swaying leaves — and then I looked further back into the shadows, and a surge of adrenaline rushed through my chest.

Eyes.

As cliché as it sounds, there were two sharp, gleaming eyes looking back at me from the shadows. For a second the world stopped as I stared into those eyes, dull and bright, alive and dead at the same time. They were fixed on me. They knew I saw them. And they were drawing closer.

But we had reached the beach, the closest thing to safety we were going to be able to find. "Could you let go now?" Dutchy asked softly, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he looked down at his arm.

"I don't think I'm ever gonna be able to let go, Dutch," I said, swallowing hard.

He sighed. "Great."

Shoutouts.

Ccatt: Yeah, I haven't seen Napoleon Dynamite yet. Super, you say? Well then, I'll take your word for it! ;-)

tinydanceremily: Of course "squishagge" is a word! ...Even though my computer tried to spell-check it. Ah well. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

Scout73: My sister was trying to get me to put in some Scout/Jack action. I was like "Ahh, no no no! She likes SNITCH!" And my sister's like, "...why?" It was great. (Don't worry, I won't put in any unnecessary romance. I've got enough love triangles to deal with as it is, lol.) Thanks for reviewing!

singin'-newsies-goil: Omg, you must read "Send in the Clowns" by signpost. I'm not kidding, it's like the most brilliant piece of Dutchy/Bumlets I have ever read in my life (well... the only piece of Dutchy/Bumlets I have ever read in my life...) and it's like a combination of both our fetishes into one masterpiece! HAHA! Anyway, thanks for reviewing! ;-)

Dakki: Dude. When you sent me your last review, it was before we had even begun E-mailing about our masterpiece. ((counts on fingers)) And that was a long time ago. It's really pathetic how long I took updating this thing. ((grins)) Anyway, thanks SO MUCH for your review because it was bloody BRILLIANT!! I love you! (Oh and by the way, I hope you don't mind that I gave you Blink. You guys just seemed meant for each other, lol.)

uninvisible: ((gasp)) I quote Racetrack Higgins: You outta your MIND?? Who on earth wouldn't want a make-out session with Bumlets?! (Spot: ((tentatively raises hand)) ) Well yes, Spot, but he's very straight in this story. Ah well, you may have a make-out session with whomever you please. (I highly suggest Crutchy. He's better than he looks.) JUST KIDDING!! Thanks for reviewing, I love ya! ((pauses)) Oh, and I don't have a Livejournal but I do have a xanga, which is virtually the same thing. It's my homepage on my profile. It plays "Walk On" when you open it. ;-)

Erin Go Bragh: All right, you get the best review award. Dude. That was just awesome. Thank you so much, I love you!! ((tackles you))

Written Sparks: Of course there will be boys on our Island! We shall invite Skittery, Bumlets, Racetrack, Jack, David, and Mush (but only if he promises to remain shirtless forever), and Blink, of course. And that dude I saw at the ice cream place last night, 'cause he was quite possibly the sexiest damn thing I've ever seen. ((smiles dreamily))

Repeat: Hmm, big Indian dance, you say? I shall most definitely consider it. ;-) Thanks for reviewing!

Coin: Hooray for Coin! I almost did a point of view for you today, but then I decided I should probably make Bandit and King kiss instead or else several of my reviewers would be very upset with me. I will get you in, though, never fear! Lol, thanks for reviewing!

Sapphy: ((hands you Bumlets, who has been doing lip exercises all morning to prepare for his make-out session)) Knock yourself out, babe. ;-) And happy day-after-birthday.

Soaker: Honestly, I have no idea what the hell a wonderwall is. I was hoping one of my reviewers could supply me with that answer, but apparently it's one of the great mysteries of the universe. ((sits and thinks))

Ershey: "Anything Goes" is from the play "Anything Goes". ;-) Actually, you and Dave are on the same side of the Island, so you guys can have a huge camera-squishing extravaganza. WONDERFUL! Anyway, thanks for reviewing, I love ya!

XthespianWizardX: I love your new penname, dahling! It took me a minute to figure out who the hell you were, but it's very nice. ;-) That's odd, because I have a very very tall friend named Jamie and a very very small friend named Tiffany. We're, like, clones or something. But not. :-D Anyway, thanks for reviewing!!

Braids21: Hey, I love your babble. Don't ever stop, because it's awesome. :-D Yeah, you get Spot — but you have to deal with the jealous fangirls, lol. Thanks for reviewing, I love ya! (And update TJORH, dammit!! ...Yeah, I'm a hypocrite...)

Lady of Tir Na Nog: ((claps for Oasis)) Dear God I love those men... Thanks for reviewing!

ShortAtntionSpaz: "If you want breakfast in bed, sleep in the kitchen." ((dies)) I love you SO MUCH... Anyway, thank you for the review and the gold star. ((hangs it on bedroom wall)) I shall cherish it forever.

Author's Note: So there you go. I'm sorry I've been sort of ignoring some characters and really elaborating on others — the thing is, I've been focusing on the characters on the east side of the island right now. I think they're on the east side, anyway. What I mean is, these guys are the ones who want to stay. Last time, it was the ones who wanted to leave. Et cetera. Anyway, please leave a review!

-Saturday