Chapter One: This Night Ain't for the Faint of Heart

The Isle of the Lost doesn't have a lot of luxury. There's no magic, technology is useless with no efficient Wi-Fi router, the food and water can be questionable, but at least there's no night curfews. Well at least there's no curfew for Mal and her friends because there's no sleep when the wicked plays.

The quartet of eleven years olds ran through the empty dirt streets of their home, playfully screaming at the moon and banging the thin wooden planks that held as some islanders' homes. Many sleep deprived citizens loudly complained at the four children as they ran further down town until they stopped at the end of the last broken, old building where beyond that was the forest.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Mal asked, grinning at her friends and then staring at the dark depths of the forest.

"It's time to mess with nature!" Evie excitedly said as the two girls held hands and began walking into the forest entrance.

"Wait!" The girls turned to their small, black and white haired friend, "Aren't there wild dogs in there?"

The boy was pulled into his tallest friend's embrace, "Don't worry we'll make sure that no dog is going near you."

"Jay, you sound like a prince," Mal commented with disgust and she held out her spare hand for Carlos to hold, "Either way, we'll be any dog's worst nightmare." Carlos accepted her hand and Jay took Evie's open hand as well. They all walked into the forest. The moonlight pierced through the wide gaps between the trees as they ventured further in until they spotted a fire pit and a large group of people yelling out there.

"There are people living here?" Evie questioned as they crept down in the bushes and slowly advanced closer to the fire pit.

Mal and Carlos shrugged but Jay explained, "I think they're the villain hunters but I stole from their campsite before, they live on the eastern edge of the forest, not here in the west."

"Let's take a closer look," Mal decided and they crawled on the ground until they were a few feet away from the bigger of the two tents set up. Peeking through a bush, the children observed the warriors socializing. There were men and women; all dressed in battle gear but there were also some kids around the quartet's age, wearing their own battle gear.

The chatter instantly stopped when on the other side of the fire pit, a man stepped out of a tent. From the bushes, the children noticed he wore a shirt that's half black and half beige and a heavy, black cloak but what they were surprised the most by was how his eyes held darkness and orange irises.

"That's Shan Yu," Jay said, "The leader of the Huns."

"Mulan's villain," Mal added.

"My fellow warriors!" Shan Yu began, his voice projecting clear enough throughout the campsite including the opposite, far end of the campsite for the quartet and some other warriors lingered back as some moved closer to the huntsman. "Tonight is another battle between skilled fighters but unlike the last few weeks, we all decided that the children will join the fury." The warriors yelled in agreement and quieted down as he continued talking about how this prison island cannot stop their bloodlust. "Now, let's begin the first match!"

The warriors continued cheering as two children were called up to approach Shan Yu. Mal and the others snuck through more bushes to get closer to where the fighting area was but there was still a large density of people blocking their view even when some of them decided to climb the surrounding trees to get a better view.

"So, the huntsman villains are having fight clubs," Evie commented, not bothering to whisper as the warriors cheered and yelled as the two children walked up a raised level of dirt. Shan Yu's right hand man flipped a coin to decide who gets to pick the weapon of choice for combat. More screams and hollers erupted in the dark forest as the fight commenced.

Even with the crowd of people censoring the sight, Mal, Evie, Carlos, and Jay were able to hear bones snapping and screams of agony as more matches continue and at the end of each match, they saw the crowd part away from the people carrying the bruised and bloodied children away from the dirt stage and into the back tent for medical care, a trail of blood rotting the dirt.

The hiding children were speechless at the results of the matches; the loser and often the victor would fight till their knuckles are bruised or slash each other with any weapon they had. They looked at each other nervously, hearts sunken and trying to comfort each other by holding hands. All this danger and chaos was expected if all villains were stuck together with little entertainment and there was no way that goodness will ever grow in the Isle. Their attention was shifted back to crowd where the warriors quieted their cheers when Shan Yu stood on the fighting stage.

"It is time for the last match, the son of Gaston against my daughter!" A boy jumped up to the stage, smiling at the crowd's applause and smugly flexing his arms and on the other side, a girl with short black hair and a sword in hand bowed her head at her father and then at her opponent. Shan Yu placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a nod, walking back into the audience to watch. The referee flipped the coin and then pointed at Gaston's son. He grinned menacingly and raised his fists. The girl hesitantly handed her sword to one of Shan Yu's men and formed her own fighting stance.

The match began and the quartet watched as a fist collided with the girl's head. Her body fell and the quartet felt deadly cold when the boy began kicking her gut. She made a pathetic attempt to get up but the boy grabbed her by the hair and she bit her lip till it bleed to prevent a whimper of pain. She was pushed off the stage and fell at her father's feet. From the bushes, the villain kids couldn't see what Shan Yu's reaction was and instead, he motioned the medic to carry his daughter to the medical tent. The audience gave the young victor applause and the crowd dispersed to either socialize or check up on their injured children.

As the warrior villains chatted around the warmth of the fire, the four mischief makers fled towards the medic tent to find their way back to the forest entrance to town. When they reached the bushes they first hid in, they saw Shan Yu's daughter slipped out of the tent and ran away from the campsite. The four looked at each other and Mal nodded at the girl's direction, they all nodded and chased after the daughter of the Huns.

Their direction led them to follow the downstream river that led to a waterfall of the western cliffs; there they heard her crying as she knelt to the river's edge and cupped water to cool her aching stomach bruises. When the quartet stepped out of the forest's shadow, the girl looked at their direction, her watery orange eyes glaring at them. Mal continued walking towards her, despite the harsh glare, and her friends followed in tow.

The purple haired eleven year old sat next to the raven haired girl, taking off her shoes and dunking her feet in the water, Mal commented, "That was quite the fight." Evie, Jay, and Carlos slowly processed sight of the left hook Mal's cheek harshly received from the Huns girl. Mal pressed her palm to her right cheek, stretching her jaw as the skin tingled with pain, "Rude."

The Huns girl simply glared at her, tears still streaming from her eyes. Jay sat down on Mal's left, checking on the brushing cheek as Evie sat on the Huns girl's right with Carlos besides her. Silence took over for the five children as each one of them also took their shoes off and splashed their feet in the water. Evie cupped some water and threw it at Carlos, her laughter was interrupted when Carlos splash the water at the princess. Evie was about to splash again at Carlos when they heard the Huns girl giggle.

She instantly stopped giggle when the four kids turned their attention to her, biting her bottom lip that's dried with blood and opening the cut. Mal lightly nudged her elbow into the dark hair girl's arm with a smile that soon disappeared when Jay splashed water at the fairy. Jay and Mal continued their water fight as the other three laughed at them and it wasn't long until they all started splashing water at each other and laughing.

The splashing stopped and silenced returned when the Huns girl wrapped her arms around her stomach, grimacing at the pain. Quickly, they helped the pained girl up and, being the two tallest, Jay and Evie carried her back towards the medic tent, not caring about their forgotten shoes.

The glow of the fire pit was insight when the girl shouted in a panicked tone, "Wait! Please don't take me back!"

"You're hurt, we saw you get kicked fifteen times by Gustavo," Carlos reasoned, "You have to get to a doctor."

"No, please no," she begged, struggling from Jay's and Evie's hold, "I can't let my father see me; I have humiliated the Huns' tittle. Disgrace and dishonor is placed on me."

Jay and Evie set her back on the ground where she choked up on her sobbing. Evie used the sleeve of her jacket to wipe the girl's damp cheek, "Calm down, losing a fight isn't the worst thing that can happen."

She gasped for air, trying to balance out her breathing as Evie helped her lay against a tree and the others sat around them. A few more tears fell from her orange eyes and surprisingly, the orange irises weren't covered by blackness like her father. "I thought I stood a chance against him, at least with a sword. The whole children fight; I gave my father the idea so I can show him my skill, to prove that I am a worthy heir to lead the Huns."

"You don't really believe that you've brought dishonor to your family, do you?" Jay asked.

"If anything, I think your father's defeat from Mulan brought dishonor the Huns," Mal commented, receiving another orange eyed glare. "Hey, I'm trying to cheer you up."

"I apologize," the girl paused, "And I also apologize for punching you."

"Apologize accepted," Mal then looked at her puzzled, "What's your name, anyway?"

"I am Yin Yu," she introduced, "I already know who you are and your family's history." Again, Yin winced at bruises.

"Come on, let's get you back to the doctor," Evie stated, grabbing Yin under the arms as Jay took ahold of the legs. This time, Yin didn't complain the rest of the way as they took her back to the medical tent. Inside, nearly all the cots were occupied by injured children with their parents or medics were tending their wounds. Talking with one of the head doctors was Shan Yu.

He immediately noticed his daughter in the company of the popular villains' kids and observed them cautiously as they set Yin on an empty cot. He approached them and Yin tried to sit up but De Vil's son eased her back to lie down.

"Yin," he began before he knew she would ramble, "Do not let this defeat discourage you. Learn from your failure and learn about yourself. Remember Yin, you are a Hun, respect all."

"But fear none and show no mercy," she finished, "I will Father."

Shan Yu nodded and called over the doctor who began treating to Yin. The Huns' leader then turned his attention to the quartet, "You children have no business in these affairs and if you wish to tell your parents, so be it; their opinions on what goes on in our woods are meaningless to us. Risk your lives here all you want, but know we are not your servants. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Mal then looked to Yin, "Want to hang out more often?"

Yin's orange eyes widen in surprise, "Um, okay, yes I would like to be in your company."

The quartet smiled and waved goodbye as they left the tent and walked back to the main trail that leads to the town. By the time they reached the town, the sun was rising. They all went home and overslept for the rest of the new day and awaited the day that Yin would recover.

Or they went over to the Huns' campsite the following day to visit the heir of the Huns. The five of them chatted mostly for the days that Yin was to stay in bed with Jay teasing her that he would beat her in a race on the rooftops of town. With Evie and Mal, they surprised her with the variety of clothes they wore; the array of colors made Yin's all black hunting gear look more bleak and bland than usually. Carlos showed her many of the dances he and the others do to entertain themselves and once Yin was feeling better they were defiantly an odd sight to be seen; the eleven year old children of great villains dancing like jesters in the forest.

Yin taught them her skills in the forest as well. She and Jay climbed the highest trees, collected plants that made radiant colors for Mal to paint with, mockingly pretended to be a prince that fails to defeat the villains, and Yin and Mal chasing away wild canines that made Carlos jump into Jay's arms as Evie comforts him. In town, Yin was also a new chaos that rained down. Jay and Yin finally had their rooftop races and Evie lather her with new clothes to try out and taught Yin how to braid her growing black hair in different styles.

By their fifteenth year, they were the best of friends. Lounging at the western cliffs, Evie, Jay, and Mal watched and cheered as Yin and Carlos practiced their swordsmanship, mostly for Carlos since being the heir to the Huns made swords skill run in Yin's blood. They stopped dueling when the sun was at the highest peak and they had lunch to the stale bread and sour green apples they stole from the market.

Yin was watching, blankly at a family of porcupines that drank from the river bed. "Do you ever wonder what our future will be?"

"Stuck here with our parents?" Jay rhetorically answered.

"No, I am fully aware of our lives remaining on the Isle but," she paused, biting her apple, "What about finding your other half?"

"If you're implying true love you better stop right there," Mal warned, threating Yin with her stale bread, "This may not be a sword but we all know that this bread is a deadly weapon."

Laughing, Yin chomped the bread out of the fairy's hand and Mal simply swiped her apple away, taking her own bite. "No, the concept of love is not too important to me; but the idea of finding your other half, someone who completes you and support each other with such devotion and care, romantically or platonically."

She trailed off but Evie summed up, "Finding that one person that is with you for your entire life."

"Does it have to be just one person?" Carlos asked, "Spending time with one of you is great but things are just better when we're all together."

Jay nodded in agreement, "Yeah, all those hero tales about falling in love with just one person is really stupid, but a story about the five of us?" He grinned at them, biting his apple, "A story about a thief, a fairy, a princess, a huntress, and practically the smartest guy in the Isle would make an epic tale."

Rolling her eyes, Mal swatted Jay's arm, "Stop being sweet." The fairy looked back to their huntress, "Yin, what brought all this future stuff?"

"I am the heir of the Huns," she began explaining, "I am the future for the Huns but our lives are practically dormant on this island. The fighting completions are quite entertaining and spending time with all of you makes my life wonderful," Yin paused then frowned, "I should stop rambling about this."

"No, Yin," Mal took her hand, giving her a reassuring smile, "You already know that we don't think your rambling is stupid, just continue."

"Mal," she looked over to the other, squeezing Mal's hand in a sweaty grip, "Jay, Carlos, Evie, I truly care about each and every one of you so much and with your consent, I would like us all to be in a relationship." Her nervousness made the request sound like a meek question and she bit her lip as her friends looked confusingly at each other.

The first one to break the silence was Carlos, "I wouldn't mind, honestly. Like I said before, things are just better when all of us are together."

Shrugging, Jay said, "You guys are the only people that I would never steal from. All of us being in a relationship doesn't seem like a bad idea to me."

"Well, I always thought of you as my knight," Evie admitted, smiling, "And all of you are my closest friends, it's not hard to care about you guys a lot."

Orange eyes began to water as Mal pulled her into a hug, "It's decided then, we're all in a relationship." The fairy pecked the Huns girl's cheek that instantly turned red, "Oh, don't be so embarrassed Yin, this was your idea."

"I know, I just," Yin shuttered and turned even redder and kissed Mal's cheek, "I thought you guys wouldn't like the idea of all of being in one relationship."

"It's like you said, Yin," Mal reminded, "This relationship is about being with your other half, someone, or in this case some people, that support and care for one another."

"But what will our parents think?" Carlos asked.

They all stayed silent, glancing at the fear in each other's' eyes. The Isle of the Lost is a place where a person's Achilles' heel needs to be hidden and any softness or vulnerability is seen as weak and pathetic. A relationship on the Isle can be seen as temporary happiness or a chance to break people on the inside.

"We keep this a secret," Mal decided and the rest agreed.

So thanks for reading! I read a bunch of positive and negative reviews of the movie and there's some that I agree or disagree with but in the end, I just wanted to make an OC in a movie remake. So... yeah.