Disclaimer: No, Lord Of The Rings, however discomforting the fact might be, does NOT belong to me. Though, in Shaitan's new plan we will . . .

SHUT UP!

Oops. Errrr . . . no plans for taking over the world and the human race (though essentially New Zealand, Lord Of The Rings Cast and any others that are . . . precioussss to ussss . . . heh heh)

Umm. Let's get on with it shall we?

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Title: A Place Of Her Own.

Chapter: Dissipating.

Author: Aman'mai

Rating: Up, up! Your answers shall come from above!

Summary: Natalie wants to get away from it all. She hates the city life. She hates the way people look at her and her brother. She wants a place of her own.

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Nat woke up to her brother rocking her slowly.

"Naahhhhhht," he whispered, "Wake up! Please Nat! Come on!"

Nat rolled over.

"What's the matter?" but saw in the fear her brother's eyes.

"It's dad! He's . . . shouting a lot. And that big fat blue man is-"

Nat cut him off, picking him up and shoving him roughly in the bag.

"I'll be quiet," Tom whispered as he hugged her back, "The voices came from downhill and the fat blue man walked past a little while ago going that way," whispering into her ear and at the same time pointing to the right of her.

She set out going up hill slowly, looking for some place where she could hide and wait the search out. She would live here forever if that was the only way to keep Tom safe.

Ten minutes later, Nat's legs started to strain with the constant pace and steep hillside. She had to dodge through the trees and keep her feet steady on the rocky ground. Her brother held tree branches out of her way as she gradually made her way up.

Panting, she tried to calm her mind from the panic that had risen in her but the hindering undergrowth kept on interrupting her thoughts. Instead, she began to concentrate on the forest, listening to the woods around her and watching for any of the slightest disturbance that would betray her hunters.

Soon, her mind grew used to the rhythms of the forest as she trudged on and could safely assume that her father was blundering somewhere downhill from her.

Hours later she reached the top, outlined against the horizon she looked into the valley below, pausing to give her body rest from the punishing hike.

"OI!" a voice yelled from below her, "Mr. Parker! She's up here!"

Turning, she met the constable's eyes for a moment then took off at a run.

Stumbling down, Nat found it harder to stay upright while she skidded and slipped her way around trees and various bushes that threatened to trip her up. Trying to keep her brother from harm, she ducked and slid as she came across a fallen log.

Yells followed her, cursing and screaming at her to turn back.

Emerging on the other end, she found that she couldn't get up and continued to slide. She watched the greenery and the rocks that streamed past on either side of her while she crouched and twisted this way and that out of the way of obstacles in the path, but still sliding rapidly down the mountainside.

Her path suddenly turned away from her and she fell into a stream that only went halfway to her calves. Standing up, she waded quickly upstream, hoping that her pursuers would take the easier path.

By now her entire body was covered in mud and she knew her brother would be the worse for the wear. He had kept his promise, not making a single sound. None of them had, their fear of capture was too great.

Wearily, she looked for a sheltered place nearby and spotted a low overhang about a metre from top to bottom on the high bank. She pulled her brother out of his bag and placed him in under the overhang and then crawled under herself.

Taking a few deep breaths she looked to her brother, "You 'k?" she asked. He nodded but turned around.

"What do you think's in there, Nat?" he whispered, the aspiring adventurer tried to drag himself deeper into the cave and was motioning to her, "Let's explore!"

"Tom. . ." Nat said, exasperated.

"We can hide real good here!" He seemed unfazed by the fact that they had just escaped from breaking every single bone in their body and were covered in mud from head to toe.

"Come on, Nat!"

"But it might be dangerous."

"Nah, it'll be fun! We can play horse!" he pushed on determinably ignoring her protests until she gave up and put him on her back once more. They needed to hide anyway; she did not think she could push herself much further.

Shuffling along, various roots dug into her knees and tangled her hair. The air was heavy and dank and she soon began to get cramped.

"Here's far enough," she said to her brother.

"No, no. A bit further, just a little bit. We need to hide really really good," said her brother, urging her on with his hands.

She sighed and continued but soon her brother was lying flat on her back.

"Further . . ." Tom whispered to her.

She was on the floor and crawling now. She tried not to think of any snakes or bugs that were sliding up her legs and getting in her hair.

The walls had closed in tight and she was finding it hard to breathe. Her head began to pound.

I need to get out, she thought within her mind and the thought bounced off the cavities of her skull, her head rang with it.

"Come on, Nat . . ." her brother urged her, "You can do it . . . come on!"

But she couldn't.

The world went black.

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The world blazed red.

Heat was overwhelming her. The smoke . . .

She was choking, on her hands and knees, the world edging away from her.

Reality stopped.

It twirled into the darkness and then erupted in another burst of yellow, orange and the fiery red flames.

Then another darkness, swooping.

Arms, she remembered the strong arms lifting her. Holding her. Whispering . . .

It'll be alright, girl . . . come on, girl . . . easy does it, girl . . . that's right . . .

Safe. She would be safe forever now.

Safe . . .

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Black.

A darkness.

But strangely enough, it was a warm and comforting darkness. She uncurled from her foetus position.

This is a dream, she thought to herself as she looked around at the surrounding gloom.

She floated softly and gazed upon the pinpricks of light in the distance.

Stars of wonder . . . she whispered in her mind.

One grew closer and closer. It's light preceding it. It grew brighter and illuminated her face.

Stars of wondrous beauty bright . . .

She looked at her hand; it seemed to be glowing brilliantly. She reached out to the star as if to cusp it in her hand . . .

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Dirty fingers scraped her neck. Greasy hair was slicked around her face and the slimy mouths of her attacker, uttering curses and profanities at her, pushed her down.

Hands hit her and gave bruises. Someone bit hard into her calf, while another pulled at her arm till she felt that it would break. Her lip bled and she tasted the blood. She glared with hatred at her attackers as they grinned toothlessly.

From the floor she was kicked and scratched as the men and women around her leered and ridiculed her.

One man stood apart, his eyes glittering. She was young, an easy catch.

His eyes watched her naked body twist away from the taunting gang. He grabbed her wrist and tried to drag her into the night.

The man dragged her to an alley, dropping her on a pile of rubbish while he tried to unzip his jeans.

And then she was safe. The darkness returned, swift and sure. Hauling her assailant and then returning to lift her up once more, to protect her.

Safe . . .

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She woke with a start and tried to sit up, bumping her head doing so. A shower of dirt fell and got in her eyes.

Tom! She turned quickly to see but he was fine. Sleeping quite soundly too. She hated to wake him but she didn't want to have to stay there any longer and her feet were getting more than a little wet.

She stopped and wriggled her toes wildly. The water was seeping in slowly. She had to get moving. Twisting, she shook her brother awake.

"Can you help me get us out of here?" she asked.

He nodded and she told him what to do.

A quarter of an hour later they had managed to move a foot more into the tunnel.

She peered ahead into the darkness.

"I can't see much, Tom. Can we go back?"

"I don't think so, Nat."

She nodded and continued her struggle forwards. Hoping they wouldn't get stuck.

"Hey, Nat." said her brother softly.

"What?" she replied, still frantically scrabbling at the narrow walls.

"It's getting wet."

"I know, but we can fix that though."

"Not that fast."

"We will," she answered optimistically.

For a while they both worked in companionable silence, ignoring the water lapping at their knees.

"Hey, Nat." Tom said softly.

What?" she asked exasperated.

"How about you go first and then you turn around and get me? It'll be quicker."

"WHAT?" she yelled, loosening another escapade of loose soil, "I can't leave you here!"

"I can go on for a bit and I don't think we'll get stuck."

Nat craned her neck until she could get a good look at his face.

"Trust me, Nat."

"I'd never forgive myself if . . ." she caught the look in Tom's eye briefly and turned back to the task at hand.

"I won't," he said softly.

Nat moved forward as Tom slid off her back.

"I'll be back soon," she said.

"'k."

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Emerging from the dark tunnel after only ten minutes of wriggling, she turned back to call to her brother.

"How are you going there?" she yelled down the tunnel, "It's not far to the end. I'll come in and help you out."

"Help me, Nat," he heard him say.

Taking off the thick over coat she had been wearing, and dropping it to the ground. She crawled back into the tunnel and found her brother wet up to his chest.

"Come on, Tom. Here we go . . ." heaving, she pulled him bit by bit out into the open air.

Curling her jacket around him, she looked around at the surrounding landscape and headed for what seemed to be the only proper shelter for miles around.

The large hillside she headed for seemed to sport some ruins of a sort, though she knew there were none near the city . . . she must have travelled out further than she had thought. How long had she been asleep?

Rain splattered her hair, which was studiously ignored by the siblings.

When they had made it halfway to the top, she found a small cavern that dug into the side of the hill. Struggling inside it, she knew that for once she felt overwhelmingly safe.

Without a word they huddled against each other for warmth and held tight.

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A/N: This whole story so far is just Nat and her brother so far, but don't worry, we'll get there soon enough. Most stories plunge straight into it, but I want to take my time with it. People just don't show up at err . . . random places at any old time. There will always be a journey first.

AHEM

Oh yes, readers, Shaitan. Shaitan, the readers. No, he's not a muse, just a mini-evil. Like a mini balrog only a mini-overlord from Wheel Of Time (Robert Jordan). Oh yes, he's caps-locks stuck or something. He's got a thing with capitals.

*GLARE* ALL HAIL ME.

*coughsindiscreetly*

OH. REVIEWERS MUST REVIEW. REVIEWS ARE GOO- EVIL! YES, EVIL. EVIL REVIEWS ARE, ERM, EVIL! VERY EVIL! *GRINS* ALL MUST REVIEW AND BE EVIL- THUS YOU MUST FOLLOW ME.

ALL HAIL ME.

Erm, yes, whatever. Reviews are nice. I mean, not to be greedy or anything but one reviews great and all but another would be nice. Really nice.