Beginning the Next Step

THIRD PERSON PT. OF VIEW

-Isle of the Lost-

As the 4 original VK's ran down the bridge towards the Isle, Mal couldn't help but think about all the changes she could see, thus sparking the trail of thought of all the things that still needed to change if Aurodon was going to be able to use the resources of the Isle at all. "I guess that's the consequences of being a future queen, always trying to think ahead and solve problems", Mal thought as she rolled her eyes. At this point she realized that Jay had won the race and crossed the metaphorical finish line at the mouth of the Isle. Laughing and out of breath she joined her fellow VK's under the entrance arch.

Panting, Mal argued, "Not fair Jay, you're all buff from tourney, plus Evie and I are wearing heels."

"Hey, I made second place in my heels and dress, don't complain because you don't know how to properly run in a dress." Mal laughed, exasperated as she realized that Evie was right. But she lost focus on that when she got a good look at the place they formerly called home. The lack of the storm clouds created by the barrier made the Isle look brighter, almost like a home.

"Wow!" Mal exclaimed, "Everything looks so…happy"

"I would have used the word vibrant, but happy works." Evie concluded.

"Hey guys, I hate to break up the reminiscing time, but I think it's only fair that we spread the news to the rest of the Isle. You never know who might have been asleep or hiding out."

"You're right Jay. I think we should split up to cover the most ground and save us time, because I think we all don't want to miss the celebrations. So, Evie take the east side stopping at the salon. Jay will pick up there and take the South and stop at our parents' old place. I'll take over and take the west end stopping at the entrance to my dad's place since its empty. And then Carlos, you cover the north end where your kids like to hide out. Then we can all meet here in 2 hours max. Got it?"

Evie, Jay and Carlos nodded in agreement then ran off in the direction they were to cover shouting at the top of their lungs. "THE BARRIER IS DOWN. EVERYONE PLEASE COME TO AURODON. THE BARRIER IS DOWN. EVERYONE PLEASE COME TO AURODON."

= 2 hours later =

As Mal approached the meeting point with high heels in hand and feet aching, she saw the moderate crowd that was gathered at the front of the arch. As she approached, she located her friends at the front of the crowd and began to move towards them.

"Hey, I think we got everyone. Most of mine and Jays group already went across after we told them to go to the palace so they could help them get situated. But almost all of Carlos' group were the kids from his home and they didn't want to leave without him. They're a little confused."

"Thanks Evie. And thanks for keeping everyone calm. It wouldn't have taken me this long but my feet were killing me and I had to stop a couple times."

Evie giggled at the future queens inability to handle long hours in proper royal attire. She began scheming different ways she could help Mal with this problem to prepare her for royal life, specifically Mal's wedding day. As Evie pondered this Mal moved to face the crowd and began to speak, "Thank you all for cooperating. To sum up what is happening, King Ben and I realized the faults that lied in past generations practice of using the Isle as a large prison that is completely cut off. So, the barrier is gone completely and will not be going back up. This does not mean that we are forcing everyone to leave the Isle forever, we understand that practically the Kingdom might need the space in the future. But we do want to get everything in order in Aurodon and make sure that everyone is well cared for. So, I know you might all be a little confused but if you will just follow me to Aurodon Ben and I will answer all your questions."

Throughout her speech the original VK's could see the amount of smiles and chatter growing, and by the time Mal was done everyone was ready to go. A dozen of the kids found in Carlos' home even raced down the bridge to Aurodon laughing along the way. Mal and Evie followed after them at a leisurely pace, followed by the rest of the group with Jay and Carlos bringing up the back of the remaining citizens of the Isle.

As the group approached the entrance to Aurodon they could see the large mass of people that had gathered by the entrance. Uma noticed Mal and ran to meet her halfway.

"Thank goodness you're back. Things have been a bit crazy. Ben is trying to get things organized but he didn't want to make final decisions without talking to you. So, for now we've been trying to get a form of census made for all the citizens of the Isle. I think we got everybody, minus these guys here. We were also able to get everybody to declare what they would like to do here. You know, where they want to live or if they want to go back and what kind of skill set they wish to contribute to society."

"Wow. Thanks for helping with all this Uma that will make things much easier. I'm gonna go find Ben and make a quick game plan and then we'll make a formal announcement in say, 30 minutes. Guys, can you help gather the last of the information and then make sure that everyone is gathered here to learn our next step?"

"Sure Mal, Carlos and I can gather everyone together while Uma and Evie get the last of the information. And then while we're waiting on you and Ben, we can all try and organize the citizens of the Isle based on where they would like to permanently reside." Jay explained.

Uma, Mal and Evie all starred at Jay like he had suddenly grown Mal's dragon wings and Uma's tentacles.

"What?!" Jay questioned; "You guys do realize that I'm tourney team captain and before that I was the fencing team captain. I know how to form plans and divide and conquer."

"I knew that."

"Thank you, Carlos. See, Carlos knows my talents."

"Sorry Jay, it was simply unexpected." Mal explained, "But it is a good plan. So, I'm going to go find Ben. Have fun you guys."