Sadie shivered slightly in her large jacket, as she watched the vampires through the trees.
Both vampire families had been practicing as much as they possibly could for this moment, the moment when they would have to fight against the Volturi army.
Noticing that suddenly the group seemed a lot smaller, Sadie shivered once more. Any moment now, the other army would arrive in the icy clearing, and the battle would begin.
A sudden hand on her shoulder startled Sadie, and she jumped slightly as she turned and looked into her best friend's eyes. They were as dark as always, and smiling sadly down at her.
"It's time," Mark said.
Behind his back, the beautiful blond vampire approached. Sadie struggled slightly to remember her name, coming up with Tatiana, Tiana and Titania until she finally remembered it was Tanya.
Tanya, as if sensing Sadie's inner struggle grinned slightly as she picked Sadie up off the ground as if she weighed no more than a rag doll.
After one last wistful glance over to where the vampires were all getting ready, she set off, walking quickly away from the clearing.
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Mark followed, transforming into a wolf mid-step. His job was to cover the scent and protect Sadie at all costs.
He too cast a wishful glance at the soon-to-be-battlefield as he left. He'd have loved to participate in the fight, but he knew that he was needed elsewhere.
He looked over at Tanya's retreating figure and saw Sadie in her arms. He could not imagine what she must be going through. A terrible would be fought, just over control of her. And, though she knew that it was probably not her fault, she'd probably be blaming herself anyways.
With a large sigh, Mark followed Tanya into the trees, trying not to look back.
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Alice sighed herself as she tried to get a view of the impending battle. She knew it was futile, with the wolves so close, but she had to try.
As she made the slight effort to cast herself into the future, she saw her beloved Jasper's face look over at her, knowing her well enough to realize exactly what she was doing.
Alice looked into the future blackness of being near the Quileute tribe as her only love approached her.
Grasping her hands firmly in his, he looked deeply into Alice's eyes and waited until she returned to the present.
Once she had, he smiled at her.
"Nothing," she said to Jasper. "It's those stupid wolves, they won't let me see!"
Jasper said nothing, but just raised his hands still holding Alice's to his mouth, and he slowly began to kiss all her finger tips.
"It's all right," he murmured between kisses.
"No, it's not all right!" Alice answered, frustrated. "I feel blind!"
"You're not blind. You've been able to see them coming, haven't you?"
Alice nodded slightly, and sighed.
"I suppose I'm just worried."
"Don't."
Jasper and Alice looked deep into each other's eyes, and for a moment, could believe that everything would be all right, until they heard a slight growl come from Edward.
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Edward had been practicing some last-minute moves with Bella when he'd felt the Volturi army approaching. They were a lot closer already, would probably be here in a few minutes.
He glanced up, and Bella stopped her pretend assault, instinctively knowing that their time was almost up.
Edward turned to one of the wolves, who just happened to be Leah, and made a slight signal at her.
The large wolf nodded its head, looking slightly silly for a moment, as it transferred the message.
Edward kept one eye on Leah, and the other on the trees from where the enemy would come soon.
There were many, but less than he'd expected. The Volturi must have underestimated them again, or they had not expected them to join with the Alaskan family. Whatever the reason, the army was a lot smaller than Edward had originally imagined.
Turning back to his wife, he grasped her hand and squeezed it reassuringly as they waited for the terrible vampires to arrive.
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Mark sniffed the ground wolfishly, his nose making a snuffling sound. Convinced that that part of the trail was well masked, he looked up and continued.
Suddenly, Leah sent him a message through their special contact, the one that connected the whole pack.
It's time, she said simply.
Mark answered with a mental nod, and then he barked twice at the figure in front of him.
Hearing him, Tanya began to move a lot quicker, dashing through the trees at a supernatural pace.
Sadie gasped from the sudden movement and held on tighter than before.
Mark followed, still covering the trail.
They had decided to trick the Volturi with something that had almost completely worked before. They had allowed Sadie's scent to remain in the clearing, to draw the vampires there, but they couldn't risk it being too far away from the actual battle-site, as then the army might notice that she wasn't actually there.
Edward's signal was to tell them when the Volturi army would be close enough for Mark and Tanya to begin moving Sadie a lot quicker through the trees, trying to cover up her scent as much as possible.
As important as Sadie was, it was vital that she never fell into the hands of the Volturi, and it didn't matter if both vampire families and the wolf pack had to sacrifice themselves for it. This was bigger than that. Sadie's being taken by the Volturi would risk not only their lives, but the entire world's.
Mark covered Tanya's tracks as much as he could as he continued after her, glimpsing his friend in the vampire's arms.
He wished they could have met under less terrible circumstances. He wished he could have known her longer.
Mark shook his head, and his body, to clear himself of such musings, telling himself brusquely that it didn't matter. They would both survive this, they had to, if they wanted for the world to remain safe.
He ran after Tanya, trying to keep his head clear of morbid thoughts.
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As he approached the clearing where the rebels so clearly wanted him to arrive, Demetri sniffed the air. The battle-site was almost reeking of the human girl's scent.
Grinning evilly, he immediately let his army go on without him, as he began to take a less obvious course towards the battle.
The rogues had something up their sleeve, a plan if you will, and Demetri was determined to figure it out.
With his amazing vision, he could not discern the frail human's figure among the vampires, so she must be hidden.
Demetri's grin widened as he thought of this. He sure loved to play hide-and-seek with his prey. Of course, that was obvious due to the fact that he always won. Even when he'd still been human, his seeking abilities had been amazing, which had eventually shown the Volturi that he would be a valuable asset to their team.
Sniffing the air, he decided to go around the clearing instead of towards it. It would be a bit of a surprise-attack.
As he went on his way, he caught a tiny whiff of human-scent. It was effectively masked by the musky, disgusting smell of wolf, but it was there.
With a slight chuckle, Demetri set off in search of his prey. He would find her, he was sure of it.
(A/N) Yes, I know I haven't updated in about two months, but I have good excuses...which you probably don't want to hear. Anyways, I decided to make my fanfictions my New Year's Resolutions. Oh, that reminds me, Happy 2010! Anyways, I have decided to update each of my fics at least once every month, hopefully more, but I'm trying to be realistic here. Anyways, review please!
And I do not own Twilight!