Hi again, everyone. Welcome to the first chapter of my first AU-to-"Soulbound" fanfic; "The Tribe". But before we get to that, it's story time!

So, one day, I was brainstorming for "Soulbound" and I came up with an idea that seemed pretty creative. But as I thought about it, I decided it wouldn't really fit in the "Soulbound" universe so I gave the idea its own universe.

The idea has evolved a lot since then and I can't tell you how many times I've changed the names of the OCs.

So, the main group of OCs here is a "tribe" of rag dolls named after characters from Shakespeare plays and the main one we'll be focusing on is a girl named Iris. Each chapter will either be told from her POV or that of 3, 7 or her friend Corin. But this prologue will be told from the POV of Viola, the Tribe's seer.

OK, enough out of me. I hope you enjoy it!

Prologue

I stared through a hole in the roof of my hut at the moon. It was in the last quarter of its cycle so even if it was giving off a revealing light, it wouldn't be much and we'd still have some cover. But we had to be quick.

I got up off my sleeping mat and folded it up, stuffing it into a small backpack. Then, I set about crawling on the floor of the hut, collecting the few meagre possessions I had (a telescope and my white headscarf) and tossing them into the backpack as well.

With one last quick look around the room, I ducked through the curtain door and outside. Antonio was there, waiting for me with a backpack similar to my own slung over his shoulder. He took it off, handed it to me and I stuffed it inside my chest, along with my own backpack.

"Remember what Portia told us," I whispered, closing myself up. "The sentry patrols right around the outside of the camp and we have to be extra careful if Rosaline's on guard duty. I tried to trigger a vision to see if she is, but no luck." Antonio just nodded and stared down at the dirt.

I sighed and touched the brown patch covering the hole left behind by my lost eye. Most of the others weren't used to the patch or the fact that I now wore a headscarf yet. And, in all honesty, I didn't blame them; I found it hard to look at myself these days, too.

Sometimes, I secretly hoped I'd wake up as a girl with braided dark hair and two eyes, so I could tell myself it was all a bad dream. But I always destroyed this hope by reminding myself that I was just a seer with one eye who had to cover her head with a scarf.

"OK, Ant," I said as my arm fell back down to my side. "Let's get to it."

"Let's get to it," he repeated, nodding. We carefully crept through the rows of huts, being especially quiet as we rounded the largest hut that housed our leader's throne.

And then, we passed the hut closest to the edge of the camp; the one belonging to Iris. Young, stupid Iris. I scowled at the walls of her hut but quickly cursed myself for doing so.

Every time I'd looked at her since losing my right eye, she'd never failed to stare back with guilt. She blamed her strong beliefs in my visions of the other clan for my losses because she'd never stopped talking about them.

To hate this little girl, who always took her own mistakes far too personally, seemed inappropriate. It was Hamlet I truly hated, for doing this to all of us.

Suddenly, I bumped into Antonio and stumbled backwards a bit. When I dared to look up, I was almost certain I would see Rosaline standing there, pointing her bow at us.

I breathed a sigh of relief when my eye locked with Juliet's, though I thought I saw her hand twitch towards her sword for a second or two.

"Isn't it a little late to be wandering around camp?" she asked, an edge of suspicion in her voice. She waved her hand in a shooing gesture. "Return to your huts." Without waiting to see what we would do, she continued on her way around the camp's perimeter.

I almost couldn't stop myself from laughing. Compared to her twin, Juliet was a lot less fierce, a lot less loyal to Hamlet, a lot more timid and couldn't fight very well, even though she was supposed to be a warrior. These facts actually made me forget that she was supposed to be the older twin, sometimes.

"Hurry up, Vi," Antonio hissed, tugging on my arm. "If we're still here when she comes back round, she'll definitely figure us out. Now, come on."

"Right. Sorry," I replied. "Let's go." We walked quickly until the light from the fire pit in the centre of the camp was just a glimmer in the distance. Then, I opened myself up and we slung our backpacks over our shoulders before finally starting to run.

We continued on like that throughout the night, running on and off until the sun began to rise. We were sure no one else from our Tribe had been in this part of the city before so we decided we'd be safe here.

We approached a nearby outhouse and ducked inside it through a hole in the door. Antonio took a match head out of his pack, struck it off his heel and held it up. I looked about the place and sat down in a corner.

"Well," I said, "it doesn't look like a good place to live but no one said it had to be permanent. Though maybe, with a few homey touches, we'll grow to like it here."

Antonio took off his backpack and tossed it onto the floor next to mine but he didn't sit down. Instead, he looked quite nervous and hesitant.

"Vi," he began, "I know I really hate Hamlet but I'm not sure running away was a smart idea, anymore. If he and Rosaline find us, who knows what they'll do to us? And who knows what Hamlet will do to Jules when he finds out we've left?"

"Who knows what he'll do to us and Jules if we go back?" I replied. "Besides, it's not like she knew we were leaving, so maybe Hamlet won't punish her." I sighed. "We can't go back, Ant. We're only truly free out here. Once you're in the Tribe, you're in it for life."

"Well…" he stammered. "I don't know…" I sighed again and started rummaging through his pack.

"All right, where's your magnet?" I asked.

"Er…what?"

"Come on. I know you brought it." I laid hands on the metal object, pulled it out and tossed it at his feet. "I know it helps calm your nerves. So, you can use it." He picked up the magnet and stared at me hopefully.

"You really mean it?" I shrugged.

"I don't really like it, but as long as it keeps you calm…" Antonio smiled and nodded gratefully. He padded outside and a few minutes later, my ears started picking up his muffled moans and dorky giggles. I pulled my sleeping mat out of my pack, unfolded it, lay down and tried to get to sleep.

It was like this for a long time.