"Maria had lived her entire life in these mountians. Sure, they were occupied by the Brazen Inquirey Guild, but they were beautiful. Her mother and father were both scientists that helped develop serums and such for the BIG, and even her brother interned there from time to time. All the schools in her small town on Bleak Peak were funded by the BIG. Maria went to them every day from dawn to dusk, and there she learned what she believed was everything she needed to know about the world. How all animals were mindless beings. How there wasn't a world beyond BIG occupied territory. How she should grow up to become a famous scientist like her mother. And how, above all things, she should never question their perfect society. 

Whenever she left school (she could do so earlier than most, being best in her class), she would go to visit her mother and father working in the labs of BIG. Maria loved this. Every time she went, she was greeted by the smiling faces of men, women and interns in lab coats. Her brother and parents made her feel welcome in the laboratories, and she enjoyed helping them with their experiments. She loved life there so much so that she never questioned when they'd inject her with a glowing green serum. She didn't question it, a year later, when her father dissappeared and her mother was the only one to be packing her lunchbox. It was only when her brother dissappeared, driven to madness by the BIG, that she began to question her lif in this perfect world. When she was eight, she sold her home in the mountains. She left on her horse with the clothes on her back and a satchel full of items she'd deemed useful. She never looked back.

During her time on the road, she found it was hard to survive. She learned that life outside of her perfect mountain town was so much different than anything they'd been prepared for in the schools provided by BIG. She met animals that spoke and automatons more beautiful than anything that could be found in nature. She studied maps of the land she learned was called Kyngdom, and she taught herself all the languages of the animals and people who lived there. During her time on the road, her hair grew long and tangled, and her body became scarred. Still, she wasa. clever one, and that's how she survived. Maria learned how to be the perfect thief. She was a rogue, a little eight-year-old rogue. She could steal anything from anyone whenever she wished, but she'd qet away the next night and you'd never run into her again. Silent, dark and invincible. The people began to call her shadow. 

She became more and more famous amongst the pickpockets. She braided her long hair, letting it become more of a fashion statement than a sign of a runaway. She got her name and face on wanted posters, but her name was shadow and her face was that of a stronger person than before. She aged nine and then ten, hopping from place to place. She turned twelve during an outing to a little village in a forest. She earned a living by being a thief and doing odd jobs. Everything from assassination to arranging little kids' birthday parties. She turned thirteen.

And then one day, she found herself in the little hovel in Northeast Kyngdom called the Bog & Burrow Inn.

@Viola?

Oh my goodness Viola? do you understand how your little "dilemma" story makes sense? In my logic class one of the ways we defeat a dilemma is we "grab it by the horns", or when we show that one of the conditionals is false. I don't want to be a nerd, but when I saw that is just clicked. 

"shadow loved it there, at the Bog & Burow. She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the charm of the rickety staircases, maybe it was the sense of danger and adventure every time you opened a door. Maybe it was the Mystery Meat, famous, it seemed, forest round. To this day, no one has ever figured out what those lumps in the soup are. But for whatever reason, shadow loved the Bog & Burrow Inn. She stayed there longer than she'd stayed in one place ever since the mountains. She met people there. A cat that walked on two legs called Mina, that Chinchilla that sat at the bar. One day, short on work and money, not willing to rob such kindly folk (yet) she hung up an advirtisement on the bulletin board in the Inn. And the very next day, she got a response. A response that changed her life forever.

How, you ask, did it change shadow's life?

It led her to Fox Boy.

And who did Fox Boy lead her to?

Simple. He led her back to Mina. 

And after an argument at the Taft Tavern, Mina and shadow began to travel together. They learned each other's pasts and fears and loves. Traveling on Diana's back, they ditched the missions their employers had wished for them to complete, and instead went on their own adventure. They walked along dusty roads and pitched tents. They were captured, sooner than they hoped, by the SOCS. Mina was nearly killed. shadow got her wings.

Once they escaped, nearly losing their lives in the laboratories, they met Alexander the Bat, Icicle Soul, and even, once, the dreaded Boy King himself. Catastrophe. And when they met Catastrophe, their lives took a turn for the worse. Catastrophe shot Mina with a mutation dart, and after a battle in a cavern, he took her to his laboratory. He erased her mind and told her she was an assassin trained to kill one person.

shadow. 

Why is the Black Skull capturing Shadow?

"A few battles, treachery, and a trip to Aslahari later, shadow was back at the Resistance and Mina was fine. They escaped with a few scratches here and there. I think everyone at the Black Skull knows the rest."

I laugh the laugh of someone who knows she's going to die.

"That's right. I'm shadow of everywhere. And I know that you're the Black Skull. Not the SOCS. Not the BIG. Not Catastrophe and his group of goons. I know you killed my sister. I know that you're going to kill me. I know that Rigga's nothing but an arrogant, bigheaded toerag. Also, I know you're going to take my DNA. Just please oh please, do not try to clone me again. 'Cause that worked out so well last time."

They must hear me talking. The door opens and a man in a biohazard suit enters. He takes a needle and draws my blood. I fight, but I'm exhausted and malnourished and there is very little energy left in me. He leaves, and locks the door behind him. The room begins to fill with green gas.

I put a hand over my mouth and nose, but poison is poison. I only manage to get two words out before the world turns to darkness, and my body is dead on the floor.

"The End." 

~~~ 

I'm back where I was again. Memories from the Battle of Aslahari flood into my head. The bullet shot by my best friend, the world flooding with darkness. And once again, Not Mina greets me with a grin, her lantern's glow turning the darkness to light.

"Hello Maria. You've finally decided to die?"

I laugh again, the same laugh from before. Claaws, I must be mad.

"I guess I have. What about you, Death? How do you feel?"

Not Mina (or Death, as her name truly is) lets the confusion show on her face.

"How did you know? How did you know my true name?"

"I did a lot of research during my time on Sailhaven. They have the most beautiful libraries."

"I see," Death says, "Well, I guess I must say I'm satisfied. I don't enjoy when people slip from my grasp. So, what's your option?"

Ah. The same question she asked before, when my body had been pierced by Ravage's bullet.

"Where did Allexandria go?" I ask, "What did she choose?"

Death smiles. 

"I think you know the answer." 

I nod.

"Then I think you know mine."

And I hug Death, before following her home.

The End.  

WHY IS EVERYONE DYING!!!!????