The Path of the Weary Please Read!:)

This is the introduction to a gifted roleplay that I started on another website...I thought I'd post it here because I have nothing better to do...I hope you enjoy it! I edited it a bit to suit this site a bit more.

Anna journeyed through the forest with the others. They were a small group, not large enough to take on the evildoers if attacked. They had escaped from the prisons of the villains, and they were attempting to get back to the land of the good, their sanctuary. It had been a hard enough journey when the evildoers had forced them to make it, but now, it was indeed more difficult. They traveled at a pace that was not fast, yet by no means was it a leisurely pace. The group knew that they must continue. Stopping for days at a time would mean that their former captors, their strongely disliked enemies, would gain on them. They had a head start, but they could lose it if their judgement was wrong. Indeed, the trek was starting to tire some of them out.

Anna knew that if they wished to escape, they must continuously be on the move, save short stops to rest. The villains would not let them escape easily. They would be followed. Yet Anna didn't think she could make it back with the others. They had many miles to cover. Her fourteen-year-old body was in worse shape than that of the others. This was not to say that she was weak. No, Anna was most definitely not weak emotionally, though physically at times, she could be. After all, she was human. She had been through many more battles than an average kid her age. But she was not average.

The young leader walked in the middle of the group. It was small in a sense. There were enough of the members to protect them form a tiny force of villains, but there were many more back at their home camp, safe. She glanced about at her comrades. leader or not, she never put herself before any other others. Her life was not important to her. The others were what mattered. She was in no way vain. She wondered how the others would take it. She knew that at leas tone of them would protest when she asked them to leave her behind. The fact was, whether they liked it or not, she was losing her strength. It was not to say that she couldn't defend herself. She most certainly could handle the task, however, she was beginning to feel the toll of the constant traveling. She was bruised and thin. She had never had a significant amount of weight to spare, but she was noticeably thinner now than when they had first broken free of the prison. The young leader was beginning to feel a bit more fatigued during the day, on top of everything else. The fact was that she was getting minimal sleep. Her sleep had been disrupted frequenty. She was nervous that the villains were gaining on them, and wanted to keep a constant, vigil watch over her friends. She would let no one harm them as long as she was there. Normally she was very alert and sprightly, but lately talking to her was more like talking to a weary soldier than a rebellious adolescent.
"Anna?" a familiar voice asked from just beside her.
"Yeah?"
The voice dropped to a whisper. "Don't you think we should stop now? You look tired."
"I'm fine, Kasie." Anna replied, a hint of frustration in her voice. "But it is getting dark. We should start looking for a place to rest."
In the end, the best that they could find was a small clearing. The ground was not level, and it wasn't very soft, either. It would do, though. As everyone settled down to sleep, three figures stood huddle together a little distance away. They were clearly arguing. Their voices were excited and angry. On the left stood Kasie, with Anna in the middle, and another girl named Nicky on the right. They were both trying to convince Anna to rest.
"You need it. We've been resting the past couple of nights, so we can take over watch. Come on, Anna. No sleep doesn't help you at all." Nicky was saying.
"Agreed." added Kasie.
"But I-"
"An-na!" Nicky and Kasie interrupted, speaking at the same time. They both emphaised the last part of her name in clear frustration.
"Fine." Anna sighed. She wanted to do it herself, but clearly there was no chance of that. Whether she was leader or not, her two best friends woud quickly put her in her place any time they disapproved of her actions.