Author's Note: Let's not talk about how long it's been... moving on...

8

The figure - half beast, half man - surveyed the edge of the town. A thicket of twisted trees was closest to him framed by tall wiry grass that was home to rodents and mites. The figure stood, not flinching as the tall grass brushed up against his legs as it swayed in the breeze. His legs were bare and his feet donned only sandals. His dark black eyes showed fierce emotion and his eyebrows twitched - though, only slightly, as if his emotions were being contained.

The clearing was silent. Every ounce of life that had inhabited the glade had gone; the only inhabitants now were the peculiar man, the trees, and the grass. He took a step forward, his first movement in several minutes. But his action was stopped by an invisible force. A force that was far stronger than him. He took a step back, not looking pained, and stepped forward again. This time, though, the force he exerted on the invisible shield was so great that he flew down to the ground. His anger began to rise as he picked himself off of the ground and ran, trying to break whatever was blocking his path.

The figure spent the next few minutes repeating the process, each time failing. He found himself on the ground, panting only slightly, his skin still brazen, a few moments after the process had started. He was just standing up when a huge net was flown over his head. A tingling sensation crept through his finger tips, all the way up to his arms and through him; inside of him. He laughed, as he pushed his arms so that the net would break; but it didn't. The net, with a strength that was almost unimaginable, contained the figure, much to its dismay.

He looked around wildly, realizing that the dell was now occupied with what looked like people but, on a second glance, were figures with faces and limbs of a person but the midsection of a playing card. They had surrounded him, one of them carrying the tail of the net. They began to march through the clearing; the opposite direction of the curious, invisible shield. At first, he attempted to withstand the playing cards, but the net forced him to move with them.

He was a captive, for better or for worse.

Sabrina looked down at the large wooden platter covered in under-cooked eggs, stale toast, and a slice of bacon. The smell wafting up from the plate was enough to make Sabrina's insides curdle and she wanted to pinch her nose to keep the odor from making it's way into her nostrils. She was seriously considering if it was a wise idea to put the Munchkins, from the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in charge of the cooking. The queer-looking little people who were not as big as the grown folk Sabrina was used to seeing but weren't quite small were nearly blind and had no sense of smell or proportion. The reactions of the food they served was almost horrifying. It almost made Sabrina wish that Granny Relda was cooking her exotic foods in the kitchen. Almost.

Sabrina pushed her plate away, nauseated. She watched helplessly as Puck and Daphne ate everything but the utensils. Their ridiculous appetites were nearly laughable. But it wasn't just the nauseating food that had caused Sabrina's loss of appetite:

One day. One day was all, then the attack. Sabrina chanted it in her head.

She turned and looked around, observing the rest of the Grimm's expressions:

Uncle Jake was looking depressed; Briar Rose's death had been the biggest blow to the Grimm family thus far, besides Granny Relda's body being taken over by Mirror, and Sabrina was almost positive that there were bigger blows to come. Much, much bigger. His face was a pasty white color, tinged only with a slight green. Dark black circles were found under his eyes, as if he hadn't been sleeping in weeks.

Veronica looked tired as well, though she had tried to cover the fact up with some concealer and a not-to convincing smile. Her hair was still askew and her eyes looked sad. She was sipping a mug of black coffee out of a hand-made demitasse. Her plate was empty and Sabrina suspected that her breakfast was the culprit of her slightly-green hue.

Henry Grimm looked anything but happy. A thousand expressions raked his features. He looked sad, depressed, mad, angry, indignant, vexed. The list went on and on. He, almost as much as his brother, looked tired. He had dark circles underneath his eyes and an unusual skin tone.

Daphne was a marvel, Sabrina thought. After everything that had gone wrong, Daphne was looking cheerful. A smile that went from ear-to-ear was plastered on her face, which, in turn, was radiating a golden hue. Her hair was put into her customary braids and her bangs were askew. She was wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans.

Red was hiding behind Daphne with an appearance of fright. She didn't look worried or scared or sad - like the other Grimms - she looked anxious. Sabrina was still uneasy about being near the only-just recovered mental patient. She smiled weakly at the young girl before letting her eyes skim over the last Grimm present at the table:

Puck.

Puck was being. . . well, Puck was being Puck. His visage was covered in saliva-encased crumbs from his recently devoured breakfast. He was now sitting back in his seat and attempting to beat his previous record for 'burps-in-a-row.'

"Stinkpot, knock it off!" Sabrina called over to him. Puck sat up, smirked and burped one last time for effect.

"Does my immaturity bother you, dog-face?" he asked smugly.

"Yes. . . it does. . ." she finished lamely. She stuck out of her tongue which resulted in a big, wet raspberry from Puck. She grimaced and Puck sniggered once more.

"You ought to respect me more, Grimm! After all, I'm royalty! You should be kissing my feet!"

"I would rather kiss a. . ." she looked around wildly, ". . . a frog than kiss your feet!"

"Better watch out Grimm - the frog's probably better looking than yourself!"

"You're one to talk! You look like the other end of a horse!"

"You look like you ate the other end of a horse!"

"Takes one to know one!"

"Will you two quit your lover's spat? Charming's trying to tell us something important and we can't hear over your 'argument!'" she said, putting air-quotes around the word argument. Sabrina blushed before sticking her tongue out at her sister.

She then looked around, realizing that the table was nearly twice as occupied as it had been before - Prince Charming was sitting next to an-even-more-annoyed Henry with Snow on his other side. He had his arm wrapped around her waist. Two of the three little pigs were across from them, wolfing down as much of the breakfast as they could without turning into a pig - their alter-ego, one might call it, that they turned into when they got excited. Sitting next to them was Mr. Canis, looking just as bony as usual. And on the opposite side of the table sat Robin Hood and Little John.

"I see you two are on speaking terms again," Henry muttered awkwardly, noting Prince Charming's arm wrapped tightly around Snow's waist and vice versa. Snow blushed before nodding.

"Well, we're still just taking it slow - meeting for coffee every other morning," she said. Sabrina looked around, wondering how on earth you could meet for coffee every other morning with the whispers of war surrounding the camp. She then saw Snow point to a two-person table with a ceramic, hand-made vase resting atop it bearing a single red rose. When Sabrina noticed Snow holding a mug similar to her mother's she realized they weren't meeting for 'coffee', per say, as to meeting to the thick black liquid every grown-up Everafter had each morning. Sabrina once, out of curiousity, took a sip from her mother's mug and nearly spit it out. She had had coffee before, courtesy of Uncle Jake, but the liquid in the cup was far worse. It was bitter and hot and tasted something of sweaty animals - a liquid that her body had had to reject.

Looking up, Sabrina saw Puck eyeing her and wiggling his eyebrows, then the pointing to the secluded table, smirking.

"In your dreams, horse-breath!" she muttered.

Prince Charming then went on to explain what was going to happen the rest of the day - the final training of the troops, distributing armor and weaponry, etc. . . Sabrina felt adrenaline pour into her veins just because of the idea of attacking. Sabrina pulled a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes. She rubbed her arms together, letting her fingers tangle up in themselves. Yes she was nervous, high-strung, anxious, tense, edgy, jumpy, skittish, worried, apprehensive, on-edge, stressed, agitated, restless, worked-up. She was all of those things. But she was also excited. Excited because she would finally be able to get her revenge on the people who had taken her parents away from her, had taken her grandmother away from her. Had taken everything away from her.

The rest of the day went by quickly. Sabrina trained harder and faster than she had ever done before. As did the rest of the camp. A rippling change went through each Everafter and Grimm - gone were the fearful refugees and out came the warriors anticipating a fight. Even Red, as nervous as she normally was, had come to train and help train Everafters with magical weapons.

The sun had gone up, reached it's high-point in the sky, and dropped so now the big floating orb was only illuminating a feeble light as dusk approached the camp.

Inside of the Grimm tent, persons ran from one point to the other in a frantic frenzy. Sabrina stood at the edge of her bed, itching her collar and wanting to be anywhere but there. Daphne stood next to her, smiling widely and enjoying the feeling of being clean and in nice clothing. Red stood next to her nervously, as always.

"Mom, why do we have to dress nicely? They're just addressing the camp?" Sabrina whined, tugging on the collar of her dress which was seemingly closing up around her neck. She scratched her back as she walked around the tent uncomfortably. She had talked her mom into letting her sport her tennis shoes but Veronica had insisted that she don a dress.

"Like I said before, Snow asked me to have everyone dressed nicely. It's kind of a. . . special occasion! Think of it as a school pep rally before a big football game!" Veronica said enthusiastically.

"Mom, honestly, I haven't been to any pep rallies but I am almost positive people don't wear dresses to them!" Sabrina retorted. Veronica just smiled and continued putting the finishing touches on the three girls before retreating into Snow's tent to change her clothing.

The mess-hall was a multitude of lights and colors swirling underneath a clear dark blue sky. Everyone seemed to be happy - the air was warm and light and floated around in spiraling breezes that carried smells of cinnamon and pine trees through the camp. The sky was lightened by thousands of twinkling stars and a yellow globe that floated through the night sky like a balloon - the moon. Every Everafter that had entered the camp as a fugitive had come out to join in the celebrations. Most wore their nicest clothing. Beauty was wearing a huge yellow dress with a hoop-skirt, adorned with thousands of cadmium flowers. The fabric was soft and luscious, like butter, as it skirted the floor - floating like a cloud. Prince Charming was wearing a dark purple suit and a dark green tie that spelled fancy. He reeked of cologne and his dark locks had been slicked back with a pound of hair-gel. Snow was at his side wearing a simple blue dress that ended just at her knees. She was modeling a light, white sweater over her frock. She, too, reeked of perfume - though, her perfume was of lighter quality - it smelled like honey suckle and rose petals and cinnamon. Sabrina also noticed Hansel and Gretel, two of the little pigs, Mr. Canis, all of the Merry Men, Robin Hood, Rapunzel, and several other Everafters all wearing traditional, fairy-tale garb.

Even Puck had been dressed up - though, Sabrina was sure that the nice clothing he was donning was put on against his will. He was wearing a rugby T-shirt and dark blue jeans, the likes of which Sabrina hadn't seen before. It was peculiar seeing Puck not wearing his infamous green hoodie and too-short jeans.

Sabrina, with Daphne, Puck, and Red by her side, began the short trek to the mess-hall. Sabrina was anticipated to see what would be going on - it was kind of like a celebration, one of the only proper celebrations Sabrina had attended.

The mess-hall was practically a very, very large tent. The flaps of the tent waved in the soft breeze as Sabrina entered the marquee. The mess-hall normally occupied several long, hastily-built tables that ran from one long end to the other. But now, probably with the assistance of magic, the tables had been cleared to the corners of the room and a huge space had been emptied. A small dais had been set up near the back of the tent housing a cramped podium.

Nearer to the front, a small table had set up. A pale man with skin that had almost a greenish hue - more commonly known as the Frog Prince - was sitting on a stool that had been pulled up to the table. The table held an ancient looking record-player and a stack of equally-antiquated-looking records.

The children walked closer to the stage - a large group of Everafters were already loitering around the platform. Snow and Charming were standing behind the podiums, smiling brightly. Henry, Veronica, Uncle Jake, and Mr. Canis sauntered in behind the children, excited to hear the rousing speech.

Several minutes later, the mess-hall was filled with Everafters and people alike - though, mainly Everafters. Sabrina hardly had enough room to breathe - let alone stand. She felt the nauseating sensation of claustrophobia as she was pushed to the front, pushed from the sides, and pushed back from the back. Daphne and Red weren't fairing much better. Puck, on the other hand, was having the time of his life - whenever he was pushed, he would push back the culprit harder, having a domino effect.

It took several moments, but finally Snow and Charming had managed to quiet the loud herd. Snow spoke first - she declared first the attack that was to be held tomorrow, she then went on to thank every Everafter (and Grimm) for risking their lives for the wellbeing of the town. Snow was looking extremely beautiful, the lanterns that were bobbing around the ceiling without any support cast a golden hue on her pale white face. Sabrina was almost positive that every man - excluding Puck - couldn't take their eyes off of her. She also noticed Prince Charming sending death-glares to most of the males in the audience.

Once Snow had finished her introductory speech, she walked off of the stage and retreated into the crowds, welcoming Prince Charming to speak at the podium. He swaggered up and began speaking - he wore a smug expression as he explained the attack once more to the crowd.

Without warning, Sabrina felt a pointy jab in her shoulder - as if someone was poking her with something sharp and spiky. She turned around quickly, coming face-to-face with Baba Yaga. She was so shocked she couldn't speak, besides the smell that was wafting off of the old woman that caused her to keep her mouth shut and breathe shallower. Baba Yaga wore a deranged expression - she was angry and Sabrina hoped to God that it wasn't because of her. With a hooked finger, she motioned for Sabrina to follow her. Sabrina looked around, her parents hadn't noticed the old hag and she didn't think the other Everafters really cared. One more look at the old hag's features and Sabrina realized she had no choice - if she shook her head 'no' she might very well be hexed into all eternity.

She followed the witch through the sea of Everafters but not before her exit was noticed by Puck and Daphne who began tagging along at her heels.

"What are you doing?" Daphne asked.

"Absolutely no idea," Sabrina replied as the crow led them out of the mess-hall and through the rows and rows of dark tents. The camp was now extremely expansive and it took several minutes to get to the gate. Once the children and the witch had reached the gate - which stood open, towering fifty feet over their heads - they were all out of breathe. Sabrina could hear one last, final 'hoorah' and loud music began to play.

Outside of the camp was dark and the twisted trees that were the forest seemed to be haunted. Sabrina had never really liked the acres and acres of forestland that Ferryport Landing was home to and she especially didn't like them at night. She felt Daphne's shivering hand slip into her own and she squeezed it soothingly.

Baba Yaga beckoned once more and they followed her out of the camp. There was something near the camp walls but Sabrina could only make out the silhouette - it was a house shape but it stood several yards higher than the ground on what appeared to be chicken feet - Baba Yaga had brought her house to them.

Baba Yaga beckoned them one last time to the house and Sabrina followed almost unwillingly. The door stood, rusted on its hinges. The inside of the house reeked of dead animal and blood - Sabrina remembered all the work they had done to restore the house to livable conditions and she wondered how on earth Baba Yaga could have messed up her house so fast. Baba Yaga took out a wand and said a few words, illuminating the tip. She pointed it to the open cavity of the house - the open door. Sabrina felt her draw drop as she saw the inside of the house.

"What the. . ."

"Oh my. . ."

"Fudge."

Another Author's Note: Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed - NINE REVIEWS, wOw, you guys are awesome! Let's get to fifty reviews before the next chapter, OK?

Reviews=UPDATES