A/N: Oof, I'm really bored since I don't exactly have school right now, so I decided to go ahead and write in another chapter. I've had a good majority of chapter 2 done for a while now, actually. Also, feel free to PM me, I love talking to people :)

Go, live your dream.

"Cinder! Cinder! Cinder, wait!"

"Shh!" Cinder said. "Both of us are going to get caught if you keep screaming my name, Iko! It's hide and seek, not scream-at-your-friend-to-help-hide-you-and-seek."

Iko was a child-like escort-droid gifted to Princess Selene by Prince Kai on her first trip to Earth. They soon discovered that she had a faulty personality chip, but the princess - who's nickname quickly became Cinder after she hid in the huge fireplaces - insisted that it made her human.

"Oh, come on, Cinder. I'm your best friend! I hear Prince Kai's footsteps, he's going to find us!" Iko pleaded. "If you let me hide with you, I'll be quiet, I promise!"

"Ugh, okay! Come on!" The now-seven-year-old pulled Iko into the fireplace with her.

They were once again on Earth, visiting Kai and all of the Eastern Commonwealth. Kai and Cinder had quickly become close friends, telling each other secrets and playing with each other all day. Winter had insisted that Kai was to become her friend as well, and by default, Jacin's. Hide and seek had become their favorite game, as the palace was very big and they were always discovering new places.

"Wouldn't it be funny if Mr. Torin found us instead?" Iko whispered with a giggle.

"Shh!" was Cinder's response.

Konn Torin was Emperor Rikan's advisor, although to Cinder he seemed like a babysitter for Kai most of the time. She knew he didn't like her to be left alone with Kai due to the fact that she could manipulate Kai's bioelectricity anytime she wanted. However, he had grown rather fond of her and did, for the most part, trust her.

Cinder heard two pairs of running footsteps and frowned. Kai was the only seeker, and he was always careful when looking for them so that they wouldn't hear them. Who was coming? She and Iko pressed themselves deeper into the fireplace, getting more ashes on them.

"Come on!" she heard someone - a little kid? - say. "I've been coming to Earth for a while now. No one ever comes in this room."

That was Jacin! But who was with him?

"I'll be back soon with food. If you hear someone coming, hide in the fireplace, okay?" he continued.

Cinder and Iko cast a glance at each other. They were in the fireplace.

"Thank you, Jacin." The voice was quiet, but the princess could tell it belonged to a girl, probably around her age. "You saved me."

Jacin didn't reply, and Cinder could hear him opening the door and leaving. Iko knelt down in the large fireplace just enough to get a quick glimpse of the girl. She immediately shot back up, and her eyes found Cinder's.

"Hair," she mouthed. "A lot of hair."

Apparently, Iko hadn't been quiet enough, because the girl whirled around.

"Is someone there?" her timid voice said.

Iko pushed Cinder out of the fireplace, following behind her. Cinder cast one of her mother's famous glares at Iko.

"Jerk," she muttered.

Turning towards the young girl, she suddenly knew what Iko had been talking about when she said "a lot of hair." That was an understatement. This girl had the thickest, waviest, longest hair Cinder had ever seen. It reached her knees and she was evidently trying to hide behind the blond mess.

The mystery girl's blue eyes found Cinder's brown and she instantly looked away.

"Your Majesty!" she said, dropping down into a bow. Her torn dress looked familiar to Cinder. Was it one of her own? "I'm so sorry, Jacin said it was okay to stay here."

Cinder blinked. "That's okay, but you have to tell me your name so that you're not a stranger. My mom says that strangers are dangerous and could hurt me."

Next to her, Iko nodded.

The girl, still in a bowing position, lifted her head slightly. "Cress," she said softly. "My name is Cress."

Iko gasped. "What a pretty name! Hey, Cinder, why isn't my name Cress?"

Cinder thought for a moment. She'd never seen this girl before, and yet Jacin trusted her. He kept her safe, he brought her food, he kept her secret.

Why? They were supposed to be friends.

"Why did Jacin hide you?" Cinder asked.

The girl, Cress, gulped. "Because I'm a shell," she whispered, hesitant.

The shell infanticide law was put in place years before Cinder was born; her mother had passed the law when she first became queen. Her grandparents were murdered by a shell, and they were declared dangerous.

Cress, with her long, tangled hair and torn dress, didn't look very dangerous. She just looked scared.

"I'm supposed to be dead," she continued. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. Please don't tell the queen. Jacin will get in trouble."

Cinder held a hand out to Cress. "I won't. I promise."

Cress took Princess Selene's hand, her heart beating a million times a minute.

"Your Highness, Princess Selene-" she stammered.

"Just Cinder," the girl said, smiling. Covered in ashes, it seemed to suit her. "And since you're Jacin's friend, you're our friend, too. I don't care that you're a shell. Saying all shells are the same is like saying all Lunars are the same, and I'm nothing like my mean aunt."

"Thank you," Cress said. "I'm really sorry that I stole your dress. Jacin said it was okay."

The girl beside Cinder snorted. "Trust me, it's fine. I steal her dresses all the time." She took Cress's other hand in hers. "I'm Iko, by the way. I'm actually an escort-droid, but I have a personality, unlike those other losers."

Cress blinked. A faulty chip? She wondered where her manufacturers went wrong. Even at the age of seven, Cress could probably ensure that that wouldn't happen.

"I can fix it for you if you'd like," she told her.

Iko made a face. "That's okay. I like feeling human."

Cress couldn't help but admire her. An android that had her own personality and thoughts? It was crazy and unheard of.

"How long has Jacin been hiding you, Cress?" Cinder asked. "He never told me about you."

"Well, I was going to."

Cress made a slightly inhuman noise and turned to face Jacin, who had snuck in when she wasn't paying attention.

"You two are covered in ashes," he said. "Her Majesty won't like that."

Cress wound her long hair around her wrist, a nervous habit she'd picked up. She'd been living with Jacin for as long as she could remember. When she was three-years-old she accidentally escaped from where Mistress Mira had been keeping her and the other shells. Jacin, six at the time, had found her and kept her hidden for four years. No one had known about her until Cinder and Iko found her.

Cinder shrugged. "We'll just wash up before we see her."

Cress's eyes widened. Saving a shell, getting dirty… that must be two counts of treason!

"Ready or not here I come!" they heard from down the hall.

"It took Kai that long to count?" Iko said.

"How'd you think I hid Cress?" Jacin responded. "I've been keeping her safe for four years, to answer your previous question."

Cinder frowned. "I can't believe you never told me. Friends don't keep secrets, Jacin."

The boy sighed. "You're too young. I was afraid you were going to tell Queen Channary."

"Seven is not too young!" she countered.

"If I may, I think we really need to keep me secret if the prince is coming," Cress spoke up. "I can hide in the fireplace."

Jacin shook his head. "Cinder hides in the fireplace all the time. She's always the first one to be found. There's no way he hasn't heard our voices in here."

"So we tell him?" Iko asked. "He'd be really sweet to her. He's Earth's most beloved prince after all." She sighed dreamily.

"I guess we could…" Cinder said. "We'd have to tell Winter, too."

"Best friend squad!" Iko squealed.

"We're not calling ourselves that," the princess responded.

"Found you!"

The four of them jumped before realizing Kai wasn't in the room and had probably just found Winter first. Jacin, Cinder, and Iko instinctively formed a wall in front of Cress.

"We could also not tell them and hide her in your skirts," Jacin suggested. "If too many people know, it's not a secret anymore. Word will get out that we're hiding a shell."

Cinder shook her head, much to Cress's relief. She didn't want to hide in anyone's skirts. "No, friends don't keep secrets."

"Cinder, Iko, where are you?" Winter yelled from the hallway.

"She's on Kai's side now?" Iko stage-whispered. "Traitor!"

Cress, who was significantly shorter than the three of them, peeked over their shoulders. "More friends would be nice. Um, but I think Princess Winter wouldn't like me, right? Because I'm a shell."

Cinder shrugged. "Winter likes everyone, no matter if they're a shell, or a..." she trailed off.

"A fancy duck?" Iko suggested.

Cinder nodded. "Yeah. A fancy duck."

The footsteps grew closer, and Cress could muffled giggles from the other side of the door. She'd always wanted to be a princess, and now she was about to meet not one, but two! It didn't even matter to her that Winter wasn't of royal blood - she lived in a castle. She found herself daydreaming about being Winter or Cinder and falling in love with a brave prince from Earth who'd sweep her off her feet and ride off into the sunset... she sighed. If only.

The door creaked open, slowly, as if the young prince didn't want anyone to know he was coming in. Jacin and Cinder covered Cress completely, and she couldn't even see what Kai or Winter looked like. There was complete and utter silence before anyone spoke.

"Uh..." The voice belonged to a boy, so she could only assume Prince Kai was speaking. "You guys do know that it's hide and seek, right?"

Jacin tensed in front of her. "We have something to show you."

He moved to the left, and Cinder to the right. Cress met their eyes and had to stifle a gasp.

Princess Winter was beautiful.

She'd heard a lot about her from Jacin, of course, but she was so pretty, anyone would be smitten with her. Cress glanced down at her frizzy blond hair and couldn't help but compare herself with the princess.

"Oh, hi," Kai said, oblivious to how self-conscious Cress was feeling. "Um, do I know you?"

Before any of them could speak, Winter let out a gasp. "You're a shell?"

Looking at her feet, Cress hesitantly nodded. "Um, y-yes, your highness."

"How are you here?" Winter didn't sound angry by any means, just bewildered.

It was Jacin who spoke next. "I've been hiding her since she was three. It's not fair that shells have to die while we go about our daily lives. They're people, too. In fact, if I were a shell, I'd riot."

"No, you wouldn't," Cinder retorted. "You'd be dead."

He shot her a glare.

Iko threw an arm around Cress. "Can we keep her, Winter? Please? Look how cute she is!"

"If Cinder says it's okay..."

"I'm cool with it. Kai?"

Cress looked up to see the young prince staring wide-eyed at all of them. "Uh... Jacin?"

"Obviously, I'm fine with hiding her. I did it for four years," he said.

The five of them formed a horizontal line in front of Cress.

"It's official!" Iko exclaimed. "You're apart of Dream Team Selene!"

"That's even worse than Best Friend Squad," Cinder deadpanned.

"Group hug!" Winter yelled, wrapping Cress in a tight squeeze. The other kids followed suit.

If she could, Cress would break down and start crying. Finally, she had friends. She was living a dream.

A/N: I knew that I wanted to introduce Cress early on, but I wasn't sure how to. This was the best thing I could come up with, though. I chose Jacin to keep her hidden since it's what he did in Winter and to be honest I'm not sure how I feel about it. Leave a review telling me your opinion :)

I also want to apologize for Winter being slightly OOC and the fact that they all probably act a little older than their real ages. Writing kids is hard, man.

Another thing: We meet Wolf in the next chapter! I can confirm that he does, in fact, become a royal guard and by default, apart of Dream Team Selene. That's all I'm revealing, though! See y'all next time - don't forget to follow/favorite!

-Cherry