Chapter 1: I Don't Know

Present Day

March 27th, 2005

It was a cool night. A calm summer breeze drifted through the area, gently brushing against anything outdoors.

Off in the distance stood the remnants of a building; a school, judging by the large, spacious rooms and the remains of desks hidden inside.

It appeared to have been destroyed only recently, for under the rubble of the building was still usable supplies.

A young man was crouched in some of the rubble near the wall. His sandy brown hair kept falling into his eyes, and he moved it away irritably with his left hand. The task seemed to annoy him in general, because when it flopped back into place instantly, he seemed to know that it would.

Clutched tightly in his right was a piece of paper, dated March seventeenth, 2005.

One week ago.

"What've you found, soldier?" said a voice off to the man's right. He glanced up, startled, only for his eyes to be met with his own commanding officer's.

She stood with one hand on her hip, the other dangling limply at her side. Her rich brown eyes stared curiously at him, a half smirk lightly playing onto her pink lips. She approached with tiny steps, and the man was forced to occupy his thoughts by turning back to the crumpled paper.

"A child's homework, ma'am," he replied, standing. He raised his hand into a salute when the woman came closer.

"I'll have none of those formalities, soldier," said the woman. "Other Officers may do it, but it makes me uncomfortable."

The man smiled, and the woman returned it humbly. She gestured to the paper, the childlike curiosity returning to her eyes. "When's it dated?"

"March seventeenth. This year."

The woman cursed. She dragged a hand up to her hair, momentarily forgetting the fact that the chocolate colored locks were held in a tight bun at the top of her head. "They're expanding."

"Expanding?" He was sure his expression revealed his thoughts; pure horror. "Are you sure, ma'am?"

"I wish it wasn't so, but yes."

"What are we going to do?"

She didn't respond for a long time, gravely looking out across the new barren land. When she finally answered, the words that came out were unexpected to the man. "I don't know."

"I'm sorry?"

She sighed greatly and turned away from him. "I don't know yet. We can't attack the forces, we'd be destroyed, and we don't even know their true location. We're at a dead end for now."

The man didn't know what to say. Typically, his commanding officer always knew what to do, so for her to be at a loss was downright scary.

The woman brought him out of his thoughts. "We'll have to warn other clans." She appeared to be talking to herself. "If Maleficent truly is expanding, we need to know exactly what we're up against. Surely she wouldn't be in the expansion party, she'll have sent some of her army. Maybe we do have a chance."

He knew she had a habit of doing this; thinking out loud. In previous meetings - he was one of the only soldiers allowed inside the meetings; all the rest were too loud or immature to sit long enough - he would often see her murmuring quietly to no one in particular while another Officer was speaking.

She finally snapped out of it and pivoted back to him."Follow me."

Her steps were quick in the opposite direction. He jogged to catch up with her. "If I may, ma'am, where are we going?"

"Back to camp. I need to contact other Officers immediately."

He nodded. They walked in silence, heading in the direction of where the jeep they had came in was parked.

The man climbed into the black vehicle once they reached it, in the passenger's side. The woman followed suit, though in the driver's seat, and started it up. The engine rumbled, and then they were off.

She drove at breakneck speed, more than likely trying to escape the place before enemy troops arrived. It would not do the Resistance any good if they got captured. Too many already have.

Minutes later, they arrived at camp.

Surprisingly, the camp was empty. The rest of the jeeps - there were six at this camp - were absent, and the huge fire pit in the median of the camp was out. The tents lacked their usual troops, and the man figured that the rest of the rank was out scavenging like he and the officer had been.

The woman shut the jeep off. The man made a move to climb out, but the officer placed a hand on his wrist to stop him.

"Your name is Parker, is it not? Parker Sullen?" She asked him.

His breath caught in his throat, and his heart skipped a small beat. Her eyes were staring straight into his, brown upon blue, and he fought hard against the light blush creeping up his neck. "Yes'm."

"Well Parker, I have a feeling you and I will be meeting a lot more in the oncoming months. Are you ready for it?"

He smiled widely.

"Of course, Officer Angelo."

...

Yeah, it's short.. Sorry about that. Next chapter will be longer, I promise!

The first Keeper comes in! Sadly though, Willa won't be coming back for a while longer.. And Parker.. Wasn't expecting that to happen!

Six reviews on the first chapter? You guys are awesome! Thanks for reviewing, and review for this one if you liked it! I'd love to know what you think of it so far!