In the morning, we're moved to our cages as usual. I'm bumped around, and we travel uncomfortably for a while. Then, after a few hours, a voice rings out.

"The cages will be opened shortly. I repeat, the cages will be opened shortly. We've stopped to make some plans of where we're going." The door to my cage creaks open, and I step out. My eyes, after a moment, adjust to the sunlight. As usual, I head to the food tent. Today, they're serving the delicious mush again. Of all the things I've eaten here, I like the mush the best. I make sure to take my time eating it. But still, it's gone all too soon. And, as usual, I have nothing to do until sundown. I guess I'll search for Rolly, even if the chances of finding him are miserable. I begin walking around, hoping for a glimpse of glasses or dark curly hair. Unfortunately, there's no sign of Rolly. However, in the hour or so I spent searching, I hear a few snippets of conversation.

"You know why we've got to plan our next move?" asks one apelike creature to some squid thing. "It's 'cause we're getting close to population. Population means laws and government. And Axle doesn't mix well with those." The squid thing just blinks. During another conversation, I heard this:

"We best be heading around the borders. Last time we went across the border..." The speaker, a person with glowing eyes, shivers. I heard similar conversations all the time while I search for Rolly. It seems that Axle is trying to get across "the border", and apparently that's dangerous. I'm not sure what the leaders of this place beyond the borders would do to Axle, or Odds And Ends, or me if we were caught. I hope I don't have to find out.

After my disappointing search for Rolly, I've got around two hours until sundown. Bored, I wander around the maze of tents. I happen to find a dark blue tent with a Free Entry sign. I head in to look around. Inside is a single long table with around a dozen people sitting on stools around it. Nearly half the people are adult men with huge muscles and tattoos. The other half is a mix of teen boys, teen girls, and one ferocious looking adult woman.

"What?" yells one of the male teens. "You cheated. No way you got that as a deck!"

"Son, I don't cheat," answers one of the men, a threatening hint in his voice. "And you don't call the cheats, anyway."

"Yeah, but..." the male turns to another man. "You saw that cheat, right? A Sailor's Hand shuffle, I'd bet." The man, probably the referee of their card game, shrugs.

"Sorry, son. I didn't see anything." The teen turns furiously back to the man accused if cheating.

"You dirty cheater!" The accused man takes a threatening step toward the teen.

"Now now son, don't get upset because you're no good at Slammers." This is the final straw for the teen, and he rushes at the man. The teen is no wimp, with plenty of muscle, but he's still dwarfed by the adult. The teen turns into a flurry of fists, and the male attacks back in defence. I watch, wondering what this card game is, as the referee makes no move to stop the brawl. Suddenly, there's a flash of silver, and a dagger appears in the teen's hand.

"Hey!" the referee yells. "You either drop this or take it outside." The male nods seriously while the boy stands, looking crazed, and then the man grabs the boy and shoves him toward the door. Which also happens to be where I'm standing. The teen crashes into me, and we both tumble backward. The teen is immediately on his feet looking at me with fury.

"You want to go, punk? Huh, do you?"

"N-no," I stammer. "I was just curious, and I'll just leave now, I'm sorry..." I begin to get up to walk away, but the teen kicks me to the ground.

"You think you can just leave? Oh, no. You'll leave, for sure... with plenty of scars to-"

"Let him go, you pest." The man previously accused of cheating steps outside with us. "He was just wandering."

"Well," the teen says with a cruel smile, "he wandered right into me. And I'm not letting him go so easy." The man looks at the teen, then back at me. He opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by a sudden wailing. A bell joins the wailing, and we all freeze. The loud noises blast over Odds And Ends, and both card players look away from me.

"The alarm," the man says. "This can't be good." He starts running toward the siren, and it seems that no one will protect me from the teen. But luckily, he runs after the man. After a moment, all the card players charge out of the tent and run toward the alarm. I stand up and brush myself off. Why would an alarm go off? What could be wrong? And then I remember- the border. The government must have found us. But why would the card players run toward the alarm? Why wouldn't they run away? I turn to look behind me and gasp in horror. A big flaming tent is swaying, spreading embers to other tents. Like the card tent right next to me. I turn and run, screaming like a little girl.

Absolute chaos engulfs Odds And Ends. People and creatures run in all different directions, screaming. Some people grab weapons and run off to defend Odds And Ends. As for me, I try to avoid being trampled by the crowd. What can I do? What should I do? Maybe I should help defend. Wait, no- I can escape now! On second thought, I won't get far without any resources. Well, I'm not defending. That won't help anything for me. Hiding, then? But where? I'll have to find a tent that's not on fire. And then what? Just wait? All of a sudden, I remember something.

I suppose you ought to know... head here if you find yourself in trouble, right? Axle had told me that in the favors tent. And if I'm not in trouble now, I'll never be. I begin to run toward the favors tent, avoiding a crazed crowd as I go.

Flames fly. Tents burn and fall. People run in fear. Explosions ring in the air. The sky seems red. Chaos has complete reign. I realize with a start that I've stopped running to watch the horror. I resume my dash to the favor tent, which isn't far now. I push through the door and find the dish-fisted person inside.

You've returned, the person says- er, rings.

"Thought you'd be back, kid." Axle's muffled voice makes me jump, startled. "'Bout time, too. I got an illegal trading company to defend, you know."

"Yeah, sorry," I reply. "But you said I should stop by if I was in trouble, and..." A flaming tent crashes to the ground just outside. "Yeah." Axle nods, observing the destruction calmly.

"Right, boy. Come with me." She then turns to the dish-fisted person. "You're free to go." Dish-fist nods and exits the tent. Axle once again turns to me.

"Okay, boy. We both know that things ain't lookin' good. And I owe you a favor. Well, I owed your mother a favor..." My heart jumps inside me.

"My mom? You knew my mom?" Emotions race through me that I've never felt before. I'd completely lost hope of hearing about my parents years ago. Did this woman really know my mother? Then, more negative thoughts. Why did my mom know this criminal? Maybe Axle had my mom on display or something. Ooh, that makes me want to hurt Axle...

"Yes, I knew your mother," Axle replies, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I knew her well. Anyway, I owed her. And she wanted me to owe you. So I do." Axle turns to a wall of the tent and reaches toward it. It almost looks like she's going to tear it down. Then, to my surprise, Axle actually rips the wall. But instead of seeing flames and panic, a hidden part of the tent is revealed. It's just a small part, only big enough to contain a dusty table with a button on it. Axle brushes a few cobwebs away, and dust goes flying. I stare at the formally hidden area, and feel Axle's hand on my shoulder. She roughly turns me to face her.

"Listen up, boy. Chances are we won't meet again. So I'll tell you the whole story.
"Your mom and I grew up together." My head begins to spin. So Axle and my mom were... neighbors, maybe?

"Your mother, my sister, was kind and pretty." Axle's sister?!? "Peaceful, too, most of the time. Not me. I was rough and always dirty. But despite our differences, we got along perfectly. Nothing could separate us. Your mom had an ability like you do. Anyway, your mom and I were teens when it happened. It started out as an argument. That turned into a fight. Nothing serious, just some shouting and shoving. Next were the punches. Your mom was sweet as Heaven, but she was not weak. Neither of us were. So we was fighting. And then she hit me hard, real hard. I was mad, so I punched back. Your mom grabbed a vase. She swung..." Axle goes quiet for a minute, and I try to grasp this. Axle is my aunt?

"Next day, I was gone. Joined a gang. Eventually became leader. I started getting organized. Stated Odds And Ends. Became successful." Axle looks me in the eye.

"Kid, your mom and I had a big fight. I regret that day with everything I got. So this is part of a payment I'll never finish paying. When I exit the tent, press that button. Don't let go. You understand?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I understand. But... do I have to go so soon? You're the only family I know, even if you're-"

"Kid, shut up. I loved your mom. You think it's easy sending her kid away? Don't try and change my mind." Axle, without another word, slips out of the tent. I glance at the dusty button. I'm supposed to press it and not let go... I walk over to the button. Do I trust Axle? Is she really my aunt? I don't think she'd have any reason to lie about it. So she knew my mom. The one person in the world who knows my mom, and she's gone. She just left. Left with one instruction. My hand goes up to push the button, but I freeze at the sound of a shout.

"Wait!" Cass shoves herself through the door. "Wrive, wait."

"Cass!" I exclaim excitedly. "You won't believe it! I was just talking with Axle, and-"

"Wrive," Cass says urgently. "Wrive, I've found all the others."

"Wait, really?" I can't believe my ears. Dang, Cass is good!

"Yes really. That's the good news. The bad news is that they're all captured..."

Wrive: Safe inside Odds And Ends
Cassie: Wanted, but unharmed, inside Odds And Ends.
Tarna: Captured in Odds And Ends
Rolly: Captured in Odds And Ends
Person: Captured in Odds And Ends
Shawn: Captured in Odds And Ends
Ray: Captured in Odds And Ends