this idea is kinda crap

and i'm sorta-ish writing a book about it

it's very under construction, but i'll put it in anyways

y a y

A Dreamer. Someone who can see the fears and dreams of anyone.

A Dreamcatcher. Someone who wants to put an end to the tyranny of the overpowered rulers.

Kaleb. Ashlynn. Dreamer. Dreamcatcher. Two opposites.

Kaleb is a Dreamer. A hero in the eyes of many. A child of the late King.

Ashlynn is a Dreamcatcher. An enemy wanted to be taken down. A child of the Revolution.

In an unexpected, but also very expected turn of events, they decide to work together to bring down the oppressing government. With the help of a very wise eleven-year-old and a frightened soldier, they finally are able to see the world for what it is. Not a prison cell, but a place of wonder.

O N E

Ashlynn grasped the arrow between her fingers, smelling the scent of the fire a few yards ahead. She took in a breath and closed her eyes. A crack of twig made her spin and launch an arrow. A cry rang out, shattering the peaceful silence. Birds began to chirp and twittered across the skyline.

Ashlynn opened her eyes and saw she had hit the Dreamer in the arm, stuck in the tree. His legs were shaking underneath him. He had greasy black hair and the beginnings of a beard.

"P-please," The Dreamer begged. "Help me." He began to sob uncontrollably, which led to him almost collapsing on the ground. The arrow was still in his arm, so he jerked upward to prevent more pain. He screamed again.

Ashlynn clenched her fists at her side. She held no pity for this manipulator.

"Please, I-" His breath was cut short.

Ashlynn walked over to him and grabbed the two arrows. They were sticky with blood. She walked towards the man's small fire and few belongings. Maybe there was a clue to-

"Ashlynn!"

Ashlynn grumbled under her breath. Artemis was always trailing behind her. And, while Ashlynn enjoyed the entertainment the small girl gave, she didn't want a shadow constantly following her. The poor girl could get hurt.

"Ashlynn," Artemis's voice called. It sounded shakier. She must have seen the Dreamer.

"Yes?"

A gasp of relief. "Thank the nebulas you're okay!" A rustling of bushes showed a small girl with light bronze skin and a head full of envious brown curls.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

The small girl's face darkened. "You don't know?"

She was worrying Ashlynn. "Know what?"

"There's been an attack! A tribe of Dreamers is coming this way! I was so worried when I didn't see you in the trees. Why did you kill him?"

Ashlynn blanched for a moment. Artemis always seemed to question her and the others of the Revolution. "He's a Dreamer."

She thought that was enough to quiet the eleven-year-olds mouth, but apparently not.

"You know, not all Dreamers are bad. I think he was trying to run away from the kingdom. Why else would he be on the edge of the border?"

Artemis had a point. "I think I know better. I have five more years of knowledge."

The small girl mumbled something underneath her breath.

"What?"

"Isn't everyone always saying teenagers don't know what's better for them? That they do whatever they want because of hormones."

Ashlynn shouldered her bow and walked back to Sonder, their base.

"Oh, come on," Artemis said from behind her. "Don't give me the cold shoulder just because I'm right!"

Ashlynn rolled her eyes and continued walking. Artemis knew she was messing around with her.

She walked past Fernweh River, the main divide between the Dreamer's kingdom, Elysian, and the small remainder of the world. The small amount of land left for refugees was mostly sand, dirt, and trees. Then there was water as far as the eye could see. There was a rumor that if you swam out too far, you would fall off the edge of the world.

Ashlynn couldn't swim anyways.

Artemis's loud chatter had blocked out the marching of troops that Ashlynn could only hear now that they were almost on top of them.

Ashlynn placed her hand over Artemis's mouth and sprinted to the trees. There were soldiers marching along Fernweh River. They wore the seal of Elysian over their chest, proud and boastful.

Ashlynn wanted to warn them that the seal meant nothing other than a target to the Revolution. She stayed quiet, whispering for Artemis to stay put hidden in the bushes as she crept along the treeline.

It almost looked like a parade. Flags were waving proudly in the air. A small carriage was carrying the King with his Queen and his mother.

Ashlynn searched for the Prince. He was usually found in the carriage, but she had heard rumors that after the King's passing, the Second Son hadn't been the same.

Ashlynn's eyes found every detail in the march. The way some soldiers' hands snapped to their guns as soon a twig snapped. The way some trailed slightly behind, as if they didn't want to be there. The way the King's hand picked warriors stood in the front of the line. Ashlynn wished she could tell them they'd be the first killed in an attack.

A sudden movement made her dart her gaze to the end of the line. There was a boy that looked very familiar. And she recognized him almost immediately. It was the Second Son.

His golden hair reflected the light in a way that made his brown eyes glisten with gold themselves. Of course he was the perfect image of a prince. He was a spitting image of his father other than his brown eyes.

Ashlynn examined the dense forest she was tucked in. An idea suddenly popped into her head.

It would work.

Probably.

T W O

Kaleb was walking at the end of the line of his brother's great celebration. It had been five years since his coronation, and Lev had insisted on hosting a big fest. Kaleb thought it was a bit stupid, but he didn't want to correct his brother.

He marched along Fernweh River. One of the reasons he didn't correct his brother was because this was the only time he could walk outside the boundaries of Elysian. And, while the grass was much greener in Elysian, he felt more alive on the other side.

He stopped for a moment when he thought he saw a streak of brown dark through the trees. He looked ahead at his brother's boasting, surely paying no mind to him.

Kaleb stepped out of formation and went to inspect the curious bushes. He was lucky that he was in the back. No one else would notice his absence unless they bothered to look behind them. Kaleb knew most of the soldiers were too afraid to even look forward.

He walked closer to the now-rustling bush full of some sort of berry. Maybe, he thought to himself, it was a creature. There weren't many living ones left in the kingdom. Lev and his hand-picked soldiers would go to the small woods in their territory and come back hours later with meat from animals they had killed.

He walked a few steps closer, close enough that if he reached his arm out, he could touch the leaves on the bush.

He stepped forward again, his curiosity too much to satisfy.

As brushed his hands along the bush, a small movement made him stand on edge. It was a grin. It reminded him of the Cheshire Cat from the story his mother was always going on about.

He squinted his eyes, but not a moment later and he was sprawled on the other side of the treeline. He was laying spread eagle on his stomach. Before he could even call for help or defend himself, an arrow was shot to his arm and a hand covered his mouth.

Kaleb looked up to see a girl around his age with long brown hair with an arrow strung across her shoulder. She was glaring at him, daring him to try anything for someone to help.

Kaleb, despite most thinking he was crazy, was enjoying this thrill. He had always dreamed of being kidnapped. He just wished it wasn't so painful.

He bit his lip, sure that if he cried out it wouldn't end well. Slowly, the tramping of soldiers' boots faded away. Kaleb was alone with the strange girl that was probably trying to kill him.

Kaleb counted the seconds by as the girl stayed crouched very still. 382 seconds passed before she finally stood up, gripping his good arm and dragging him up with her.

"Who are you," Kaleb hissed at the girl.

"None of your business." The girl glared at him.

"Did I do something wrong," He asked. Was she part of the Revolution?

The girl who's name was none of his business rolled her eyes and walked past the tree line, her hand gripping his arm tightly.

"If you tell me your name, I'll tell you mine." Kaleb tried to negotiate with the very mysterious girl.

"I already know your name Prince Kaleb." When she muttered the word prince, it sounded like she was mocking him.

There was a shake of a bush, and a small girl popped out. She had light brown skin and curly brown hair down to her elbow.

"Ashlynn!" The girl shouted. She gasped and took a closer look at Kaleb. "Oh my nebulas, did you kidnap the Prince?"

The girl's-Ashlynn's-hand gripped Kaleb's arm tighter. He grunted in pain. The arrow was still stuck in his arm, and he was afraid he was losing too much blood.

"Artemis, I thought you already went back to Sonder."

"You told me to stay put. And you still haven't answered my question!" Artemis crossed her arms huffily. Kaleb assumed she was quite a few years younger than him and Ashlynn.

"If I'm going to answer your question, we have to keep walking. Night is starting to fall." Kaleb hadn't noticed until just now. He could see the outbreak of a few bright stars.

"So, you did kidnap the Prince?" Artemis said, the shock in her voice prominent. They had been walking in the woods, Kaleb could hear by the trampling of bushes. But, before they set on their way to 'Sonder', whatever that was, Ashlynn had tied a piece of cloth over Kaleb's face. He had already tripped over so many thick tree roots and broken stones.

"Yes." Ashlynn's voice had a biting tone to it.

"And you shot him in the arm?"

"Yes."

"And, how did this happen exactly?"

"Well, I was moving around in the bushes. Causing noise so that anyone who was curious would come to investigate. The Prince came and was looking through the bushes, so I knocked him to the other side, shot an arrow in his arm, and here we are."

Ashlynn sounded like this was a daily thing. But, now Kaleb wasn't so sure it wasn't normal.

"We should return him."

Ashlynn blanched, and, since she was guiding Kaleb, he almost fell onto the ground. "What?"

"You heard me."

"Artemis, you can't be serious. We could hold him for ransom! We could get paid thousands, and we could use that money to overthrow this horrible government. We could be equals."

"It's the right thing to do," Artemis argued.

Kaleb was done with their argument and done being talked about if he was an inanimate object. "I'm right here, you know."

Ashlynn's breath hitched.

"What?"

"I have the perfect idea."

T H R E E

"No way," Artemis shouted. Ashlynn was beginning to think that the girl was being loud to draw the attention of the soldiers' not too far away.

"It's the perfect idea," Ashlynn said. The Prince was being silent, and Ashlynn wasn't sure if he didn't have anything to say, or was hoping they would forget about him.

"I don't think this plan is going to work, Ashlynn," Artemis pleaded.

"Trust me, it will. I'm going to Sonder to get some supplies, and tonight I'm leaving."

"You don't even have a plan."

"I'll figure it out as I go along. Like usual."

"Ashlynn, really, you shouldn't do this."

"There's nothing that's going-"

A few tigs snapped, and leaves crunched. Ashlynn looked down at her own hands and saw they were clenched in fists.

The prince had fainted from blood loss. Though, it didn't seem he had lost much blood. Ashlynn kneeled over the boy, his now-pale skin had a sheen of sweat over it.

Artemis knelt over the Second Son and tried to help sit him back up. "I'm coming with you," she declared.

"You-"

"If you're doing this plan, I'm coming with you. Otherwise I'll tell Cynthia what you're planning to do. I'll even grab your things and pack food while you help the Prince." The girl's eyes were steely with determination.

Ashlynn knew there was no discouraging her. "Fine, just don't forget to bring extra arrows, you know the rest."

Artemis nodded and sprinted through the trees.

Ashlynn looked at the prince.

Hopefully this plan would work.

Ashlynn was cleaning her arrows when the Prince finally woke up.

Artemis had dropped off their things needed for the journey, but had to go back to Sonder for some unknown reason. She had been gone a little longer than Ashlynn was comfortable with. If Artemis didn't come back in the next two minutes, she decided, she would go after her.

"Where are we," The prince asked.

Ashlynn ignored him. She wanted as little to do with him as possible. And she didn't want him to have enough knowledge to possibly recognize her later.

She silently scolded herself for being so obnoxious in front of him earlier.

The prince cleared his throat. Ashlynn made no move to even gesture she knew he was awake.

The quiet petered into awkward silence.

"I'm back!" Artemis called out. Ashlynn glanced up to see the small girl carrying a big bag. Artemis purposely kept it out of her line of sight. Ashylnn scowled.

"So, what have you guys been talking about." Ashlynn was about to shake the girl silly. Didn't she realize that the prince was a prisoner?

"Nothing," the prince answered. "And, uh, where are we?"

Artemis opened her mouth to answer, but Ashlynn shot her a look. "Sorry, can't answer that."

"Well, why aren't we at your secret base or something? Shouldn't I be tied up in a cell or begging for mercy after a scarring interrogation?"

Artemis and Ashlynn exchanged bewildered looks.

The prince gave a sheepish grin. "Or. . not. . ."

"Why would we hurt you," Artemis asked.

"Maybe because you guys kidnapped me."

"Yeah, but we're just returning you to your castle safely," Artemis explained, ignoring Ashlynn's looks of warning.

"Wait-what?"

"Uh-huh. And, since we're going to be walking a lot tomorrow, you should probably get some sleep. I'm not sure how much energy it takes for a prince to walk through his kingdom."

The Second Son looked offended. "I-"

"Just go to sleep," Ashlynn snapped, her own tongue betraying her. She wanted to stay silent, but she couldn't stand the annoying 

it sucks, i know, but i wanted to post so yeah XD

i didn't even finish the last sentence