(Content/trigger warnings for this chapter: the word "queer" in the reclaimed sense)

-Ranya-

Step three: the escape.

My dad had texted me back. He thought my plan so far was solid for now, but that my main concern should be getting some sort of weapon or power that could defeat Pitch. My dad suggested I knock out one of the Guardians and steal their weapon. The problem was, they might see me take out the Dreamsand afterward and immediately suspect me of the theft. I'd only use it as a last resort, right before Pitch came and they wouldn't be able to take the weapon back. Plus, as I mentioned before, it wouldn't look good in a future Guardian to steal my future teammates' weapons. I told my dad I hoped my classmates would have some ideas to get ahold of some nicely. They might not know as much about the RotG/GoC universe as I did, but they each thought differently and might have some unique ideas.

That night, after caring for my plants, I lay in bed until 10, when my parents usually went to sleep and the house stilled. When I had the greatest chance of avoiding the Guardians.

Running water sounded from my parents' master bathroom, but I knew the door would be shut. Windshallow sunlight still poured in from the window above my bed, and it helped keep me awake buried warm under my covers. But then the glow suddenly vanished again. My room went dark. Normal night had returned.

I gripped my grainy Dreamsand in one pocket and my smooth starry pendant in another. Tooth's wings beat high and fast by my bedside. She watched me. She was calmer now than she had been earlier, but her neck and shoulders were still stiff.

Quietly, I pinched some Dreamsand between my fingers, trying to keep my covers from moving.

"Tooth?" I said.

"What?" she replied.

"What do you think of my plants?" I let go of my pendant and gestured with that hand toward the assortments on a nearby shelf. Colorful flowers and leaves with interesting shapes. African violet, aloe vera, and Swiss cheese plant, among others.

Tooth glanced behind her, but she quickly resumed attention on me—not enough time to knock her out without her seeing. "They're pretty," she said.

"Thank you."

"And you have a nice… flag?" She gestured toward my LGBTQ+ flag without taking her eyes off me.

"Yeah." I smiled. I could talk about something interesting and distract her. "It represents people like me." Tooth glanced at it slightly longer, her eyebrows still furrowed, before turning back to me. "It's for people who aren't the gender they were assigned at birth, or who don't just like the 'opposite' gender. I'm cis, but like all genders."

Tooth still looked confused. She probably didn't know much of what was happening in the modern world, mostly working at her Tooth Palace, so she wouldn't be familiar with all the queer identities that were becoming more public knowledge. I can work with this. Though I couldn't pretend I wasn't a little disappointed by her lack of enthusiasm.

"It has a lot of colors," she said.

"Yeah."

"Do they have meanings?"

"Yeah." I pointed. "The white, pink, and blue stripes there represent trans people, those with a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth." Tooth followed my finger and gazed hard, clearly trying to make sense of what that meant, but she turned back to me too soon for me to take out the Dreamsand.

"Assigned at birth?"

"Um… What you look like when you're born. What the doctors think you are."

"And sometimes they're wrong?"

"Yeah." I pointed at the yellow triangle with a purple circle in the middle. "And that there is for intersex people. They have… um… the sexual characteristics of more than one sex."

Tooth blinked and stared harder at the flag. I took this chance to snake my other hand out from under my blankets, but she looked back at me and I had to clench it into a fist to hide the Dreamsand.

"I'm trying to understand…" she said. "Clearly I've been out of the field for too long."

That yanked on my chest a little. She really was trying, and I was taking advantage of her confusion. But this was for my sister.

"There are a lot of different identities out there that this flag represents." I gestured to it again. Tooth followed where I pointed. "You've got your more well-known ones, like lesbian and bisexual, and then you've got ones like aegosexual, and trixic, and—"

I opened my fist and flung the glowing Dreamsand at her. Her eyes closed, and she began to drop out of the air. I jumped out from under my covers, cringing at the thud of my feet landed on the ground, and caught her enough to slow her collapse before laying her on the carpet.

Now I had to get to business. As quietly and efficiently as I could, I slipped on my furry boots from the closet and packed my duffle bag: A change of clothes. A blanket. My phone charger. My school materials.

By the time I reached the stairs, Isabelle burst from her room, moving as silently as fireflies. We tiptoed downstairs, and she flicked on the kitchen light. The white island and countertops nearly glowed softly under it. Isabelle's black hair shone. I slipped on my winter coat from the hall and headed to the pantry to pack food.

"I think Jack saw me throw the Dreamsand," Isabelle whispered so softly I nearly couldn't hear. "I'm sorry I wasn't quick enough."

My muscles tightened, and my jaw clenched. I huffed and bit back several retorts before saying, "It was an accident." My words were sharp, though.

Isabelle drooped and turned back to dropping bags of crackers into her winter coat pockets and bookbag. I wanted to apologize, but I was just too irritated. I joined her at the pantry.

A door creaked open above me. I froze. Footsteps thumped toward the stairs. I bounded to the light switch and flicked it off. In the brief second before we descended to darkness, I saw Isabelle's eyes widening beside me in clear panic.

"We have to leave," I whispered as quietly as I could, and pulled her toward the front door, trying my best not to let the zippers on my duffle bag rattle. If we went out the closer back exit, we'd leave footprints in the snow, and the Guardians would see we'd left. We had to stay on the roads.

The footsteps reached the bottom of the stairs, and the living room lights flared on. I pulled Isabelle down behind the island.

"Who's there?" North called. He stepped toward the kitchen.

I tugged Isabelle toward the far end of the island.

North stepped closer, and inspected the countertops behind us. My chest tightened. If I was caught, it would ruin my plans.

More footsteps thundered above. I yanked Isabelle toward the narrow empty hall leading to the front door. It was exposed, but we had nowhere else to go.

The new footsteps thumped down the stairs. "What is it, North?" Bunny. Two more pairs of steps followed him. My parents, probably, since they'd be alone without North and Bunny—they had to come with.

"I thought I heard something," said North.

"Want help?"

"Yes. Let's get this over with quickly."

I pulled Isabelle into the back corner of the hall. Bunny's footsteps trod through the living room, and then he stood ten feet directly in front of us.

"I've always double-checked the house before I go up to bed," said my dad. "There's nothing to worry about."

Our parents too walked into our line of sight across the hard floors.

"We just have to be safe," North said. "Fear Angels can go through windows like us." I held my breath as he flicked the kitchen lights on. Isabelle and I crouched in the remaining foot of shadow. "Mrs. Kirkwood, you've been supporting us."

My mom's eyes were glazed over, and for the first time, I found it strange. This was too many instances. "Honey, let them search."

We had to get out of here. I turned and began twisting the doorknob, but Bunny's long ears twitched. Did he have enhanced hearing? It had never been confirmed in canon, but… If we moved a whole lot, would he hear us? I turned the doorknob more slowly. One centimeter. Two.

My dad's eyes glazed over, too. "All right." An inch. A second inch.

A third. Another centimeter. North went back to the kitchen, and Bunny stepped toward us.

I finished turning the doorknob and opened the door, screaming at it with all my willpower not to creak.

I managed to open it just wide enough that Isabelle and I could squeeze through. I pushed her through the crack first and leaped out behind her.

When I quietly shut the door behind us, we broke into a run.

(A/N: Remember to favorite, review, and follow if you're enjoying this! And you can still join my Discord server! Come to talk about RotG and share and talk about your fan works, discuss my fan works, get notified whenever I post a new chapter, if you choose, and even make friends in the fandom, including me! The link's on my profile (FFN won't let me post it here)!)