Winter break is coming to an end, sadly. Which means less frequent updates. I have homework, swim team, and then I actually have to start sleeping more.  And I have to get my weekly allergy shots, and those are THE WORST. They itch for like three to four days, then I have two days of rest, then repeat. And I actually have a paid job now! It's childcare every Thursday night! I'm super excited.  

Is anyone else super excited for How To Train Your Dragon 3? I know me and my best friend, xXFashion_DolphinXx, already made plans to go see it together at a movie theatre, and we already watch RTTE and the first two movies. And we're obsessed with the soundtrack. From the first movie, my favorite piece is 'Forbidden Friendship', and in the second soundtrack, its either 'Dragon Racing' or 'Hiccup confronts Drago'.  Edit: IT MADE ME CRY ;-;

--------------------------

Fitz sat in a hallway with Keefe, talking quietly. 

"We need to go back", Keefe said. Fitz shook his head.

"I don't know what it is, but something is telling me to stay", Fitz admitted, earning himself an odd look. 

"I'm not positive I know what you're talking about."

"A gut feeling. Like a sixth sense telling me to stay here. I have a feeling something is going to happen, and I think we should be there for it", Fitz explained to his friend. Keefe shook his head.

"If something is going to happen, that's even more reason to leave". Fitz stood up walking off down the hall, only stopping to say one thing.

"You never struck me as a coward". 

*******************

After Fitz and Keefe's argument, they wouldn't talk to each other. At all. So, Fitz went to talk to his sister, who was in the training arena, training with a bow and arrow. She shot two bullseyes in a row and was off by an inch on the third. Fitz cleared his throat, and Biana spun around, pointing the arrow at him.

"Hey, I come in peace", Fitz said, raising his hands in mock surrender. Biana sighed and lowered the bow, putting it down next to a few crates of arrows. 

"Come to yell at me have you? Well get on with it", Biana said. Fitz's eyebrows shot up.

"What?", He asked, his voice insinuating he was confused.

"I know you aren't exactly happy with me for joining a band of renegade villagers and nobles, but it was the right thing to do. Besides, I don't think I could stand another year in that stuffy palace with...", Biana trailed off.

"With who?", Fitz asked quietly. Biana cast her gaze to the ground.

"With Alvar", she whispered. Fitz's brow furrowed in confusion. If his life was a book, that would have been his cue to gasp. But this was real life, not a book, and he was thoroughly confused.

"What are you talking about?"

Biana closed her eyes with a sigh, opening them a moment later. "This is going to be hard to hear, so I think we should sit down". She pulled up a couple of crates over, and they each sat down on one. Biana took out a flask and guzzled water. 

"Stop stalling", Fitz muttered to her. Biana sighed.

"Caught that, huh? Okay, well, remember Jensi, Alvar's old servant?", Biana waited for Fitz to nod. "Okay, well Jensi saw something one night while delivering something Alvar had asked for. Alvar put Jensi in the prison on the same night the Black Swan was planning a prison raid. Jensi told the General, who told the rest of us. Fitz, Alvar is with the Neverseen". This was Fitz's second cue to gasp. But he couldn't make a noise. It seemed he was frozen in time.

His brother, a traitor? Alvar was Fitz's role model, his idol. Fitz wanted to be just like Alvar someday. But all that time he had been deceiving them? How had they fallen for it? Was everything Alvar had ever told them a lie? The questions circled through Fitz's head, but only one mattered. 

"Why?" Biana looked at him with sorrow in her eyes.

"Why what?"

"Why didn't you send an anonymous letter? Send a messenger? Why didn't you tell us anything in the last YEAR?", Fitz yelled, his fists balled up. Biana sighed, looking down.

"I told Sophie, and she told me to send a letter. 'If your brother lives at the castle with your family, they're all in danger. Do what you need to help them, as long as you think it's right', she told me. So I snuck out to meet a messenger who I've known for a few years. She's completely trustworthy, but the General caught me and told me not too", Biana said. Fitz remembered the plump man at front of the room from the meeting. 

"That doesn't seem like something he would do", Fitz said even though he didn't know the guy. Biana looked her brother in the eye, a dangerous thing to do when he was this angry.

"That's because it wasn't him" This time, Fitz did gasp on his cue. "It was someone posing as him. The Neverseen have sorcerers on their side, Fitz". Fitz blinked trying to process al this new information. First, it was his brother, then the other side had a major advantage. 

"Who?"

"I have no idea. But only a sorcerer or enchantress can impersonate someone else completely", Biana said. Fitz remembered reading something along those lines, but he hadn't known it was true. 

"Biana, what if its just-", a loud rumble cut the teal-eyed prince off. The siblings looked up to see the lanterns that lit the arena swinging. Their gazes connected.

"We should check that out, shouldn't we?", Fitz asked nervously. Biana nodded certainly, grabbing her bow and a sling of arrows. He followed Biana up cobblestone stairs until they reached the trapdoor, where many people were gathered, a lot of people already outside. Once Fitz and Biana could finally get outside, what they saw defied all logic. 

A woman with raven-black hair and deep blue eyes stood watching the crowd pour out of the trapdoor. She was wearing a gold and black dress that trailed behind her when she walked, and in her left hand, she held a staff with a blue wisp of light at the top. In her right was a wisp of light the exact same color, and she had pale skin. She had an aura of authority, and the Black Swan trembled before her might. The crowd was silent.

"Little rebel group, you will never win. There will always be someone there to put out the spark of rebellion. I am your only hope at survival. I, Vespera, command a legion of Neverseen warriors. You can be a part of them if you surrender to me and to the Neverseen". Vespera's voice rang out across the silent forest. Not a bird chirped, and not a human moved. They were all frozen in fear, panic, thought, or combination of the three. 

"Nobody speaks for you? Not a leader to decide?", Vespera asked in a mocking tone, her voice like ice. Fitz's eyes were on the wisp of light in her hand. Even though it was light, and light was usually associated with good, he was certain the wisp could do terrible things. 

"We will not follow something we do not believe in", Came a voice from the center of the crowd. Fitz craned his neck to see who had spoken but couldn't see who. 

"What was that?", Vespera's cold voice asked.

"You heard me. We will not follow you and your deranged ways. The whole reason our group exists is to stop people like who abuse the rights of humans!", By now Fitz could tell it was Calla who was speaking. Her voice rang across the crowd, giving people hope and courage to square their shoulder and stand tall against this new enemy.

"We are not dirty lying traitors whose alliegences turn at the first sign of danger. We are not cowards, we don't run from a fight. We stand tall, and we stand strong through and through. We are the Black Swan, and someday you will feel our wrath", Calla shouted, and the crowd of rebels cheered. 

"Very well then", Vespera said in an eerily calm voice. She thrust her right arm out, and the blue wisp of light was thrown from her hand, landing right on Calla's chest. The wisp of light turned from blue to navy blue to black, then seeped into Calla. The woman cried out in pain, and someone rushed to her side. Fitz recognized the girl's blond hair and knew instantly Sophie was there. The people closest to Calla screamed as she collapsed, the black coming out of her and swirling around the woman, throwing Sophie back. Someone caught her before she could hit the ground. 

The storm of black light subsided, and in Calla's place was a large, round seed. It was blue with hints of purple and pink through it.

"NO!", Fitz heard Sophie scream as she struggled through the crowd. They finally parted, and she had a clear path to her former friend. The princess sunk to her knees and scooped the flower-sized seed into her shaking hand while Vespera laughed. Sophie looked up at Vespera with burning hate in her eyes. "You can kill us, turn us into seeds, toads, whatever. But we will never surrender to you". 

"Disrespect me one more time princess, and I will show you no mercy", Vespera growled. Sophie stared the fearsome enchantress straight in the eyes. 

"I'm not afraid of you".

"Oh, but you should be. And you will be". Vespera summoned another wisp of light in her palm, this time red as blood, and hurled it at Sophie. Biana screamed, and others cried out as the blast raced towards the brown-eyed girl. Sophie stood up, ready to take the pain and suffering that would surely come, with bravery. It hit her and swirled around Sophie, but then the storm of red stopped and floated around her. Her eyes were the purest form of white, and her hair floated around her, giving her the ethereal image of a goddess. Fitz glanced down to see her hovering about an inch above the ground.

"Oh. My. Goodness", Biana breathed, grabbing Fitz's arm. 

The red light turned a beautiful lavender color, bathing the crowd in bright light. She rose higher off the ground, and her arms raised, twisting above her. The light followed her command, and she lowered her arms, thrusting them out to the enchantress. Vespera raised her staff, but the light broke right through it, zipping towards the enchantress. It hit her chest, the exact place where it had hit Calla, and wrapped around Vespera, lifting her up until the woman was completely covered. Then she just disappeared into thin air. The light was there, then it wasn't, leaving everyone in darkness, except for the faint white light radiating off of Sophie. 

She slowly drifted back down to the forest floor. When her foot hit the forest floor, Sophie's eyes turned back to normal, and her hair fell flat against her shoulders, and she collapsed, the seed rolling out of her hand. 

"Is she alive?", Someone called. A girl with long blond hair and pale blue eyes rushed up. Nadine. She layed a hand on Sophie's forehead, checking for fever. She then checked the girl's pulse.

"She's alive", The fierce girl announced. The whole crowd sighed in relief. Then someone thought to ask the sensible question.

"Where's the General?", Valerie asked, coming up next to Nadine. Nadine was doing all kinds of healing stuff to see what was wrong, then stood up.

"Right here", The General said, coming out of the forest.

"Where were you?", Nadine demanded. 

"I was at a meeting for my alter ego", The bloated man replied. Valerie walked up, her arms crossed. Everyone held their breath, wondering what would happen next.

"Somehow I highly doubt that", The brown haired girl said suspiciously. The General arched an eyebrow. 

"What are you saying, girl?", The General asked in a taut voice. There was a flash of red, and Ashia was standing next to Valerie, the rest of the Alicorns behind her, Nadine kneeling next to Sophie again. All the Alicorns were gazing at the General with suspicion.

"She's saying that we don't trust you", Ashia said, motioning to the Alicorns. The General's Eyes narrowed, turning into a glare. 

"We can second that", Said a gruff voice. A tall woman with armor on came up next to Ashia. The Goblin leader, Hylda

"As do we", Said a short, bald man. Enki, leader of the Dwarves. 

"The Trolls have spoken as well, and we agree", Said a higher pitched voice as a woman drifted next to the other leaders, Pernille. 

"And the Gnomes will stand with the right choice. We agree with the other teams", A shorter woman said. This woman had plaited hair with earthy colored clothing. Flori. 

The General watched this uprising. Biana started forward.

"Where are you going?", Fitz whispered.

"I'm the second in command. Meaning that since Sophie is down, I speak for her based on what I know about her. And from what I know about her, she would think this is the best decision", Biana explained, striding up with an air of confidence. 

"The Moonlark's concur with the rest", Biana declared, her cape swishing behind her as a faint wind blew through. 

Together, all the tribes made up the entire Collective. 

"So what are you going to do?", He asked.

"Put someone new in charge. Someone who knows what they're doing. And putting you in the small prison and find out where you really were", Flori declared, and the rest of the leaders nodded in agreement. The General smiled coldly as two warriors directed by Hylda tied the General's hands behind his back. He was strangely silent on his way to the darkness that would soon be his home. Fit had a feeling this would not be the last they saw of Vespera or the General. 

The crowd of warriors was silent. Then Sophie sat up with a gasp, despite protests from Nadine.

"Wheres the General?"

------------------------------

Okay, this chapter was actually better than I thought it would be. THANK YOU FOR 105 VIEWS!!!!! This is so awesome, guys!!! I owe you all one!!!!