Part 1

The young korbat sighed. Everything was dark outside; almost pitch black. It always was when it rained at night. His body was soaking wet, baggy jeans making it hard to move around a lot. He felt a branch hit the side of his head. In the distance, he heard his name called, but didn't respond. Ahead of him, he heard a soft whimpering sound. He ducked into a hollowed out tree to find a young female kougra.

"Hello?" he asked softly. "Are you alright?"

The kougra nodded her head. Through the gloom, the korbat could see she was crying. He sat beside her, head tilted to one side.

"Something's wrong," he said quietly. He could feel her shaking.

The kougra shook her head.

"You scared?" He smiled when she nodded after a moment's hesitation.

"Call me Burakku," he said.

Burakku took the small Christmas kougra into his arms, rocking her gently. She clung to his soft chest fur, even though he was wet.

"I'm Alex," she said softly, after a bit of time had passed.

Burakku looked down; her eyes were drooping. He began to hum softly; he'd a nice voice, for a korbat. She began to fall asleep as his humming reached her ears. Soon, to Burakku's relief, she stopped shaking and fell into a deep sleep. Outside, the rain continued to pour, and his family continued to search the town for him.

As he lay there with the sleeping kougra in his arms, he thought about his home. He didn't want to go back there; they didn't understand him at all. Let them look; he didn't care. Presently he began to think about how Alex had come to be here. Through his thinking, he became aware that something was moving around outside.

He gently shook the sleeping Alex.

"Wake up," he said softly in her ear.

Her eyes snapped open when thunder crashed overhead. Burakku put a paw over her mouth to keep from screaming. He gently turned her head so that she saw the ominous red eyes looked around. Alex clung tighter to him.

As quietly as he could, he moved to the entrance of the tree hollow, keeping Alex in his arms. He set her down; without saying a thing, she understood to get onto his back. He knelt so she could climb onto him then stood back up, keeping his arms hooked around her legs.

He began walking as quietly as he could away from the beast, deeper into the forest. A twig snapped under his weight, and the ghost korbat took off running. The creature behind them started toward them, growling and snarling.

"Alex," he over his shoulder, "Hang on tight!"

Alex gripped the short mane on the back of his neck as he held his arms out wide. The wind that whistled through the trees caught in his wings, lifting him and Alex into the air. She squeaked softly as he left the ground.

"Are you strong enough to carry me for a long time?" she asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about me," he replied. "You're small and light, I can handle it."

Burakku beat his wings once, soaring into the open sky. Flying would be hard on him in the rain, but he had to get them both to safety. As he flew, he felt Alex's small paw fiddle with his earring.

"Why do you have an earring?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe because one day I want to be a pirate?" he laughed. It quickly died as something crashed through the treetops. Alex screamed in surprise.

"Alex," Burakku called over the growing wind, "What's following us?"

"A darigan skeith!"

"But why-" Burakku cut himself off.

His wings beat the air hard as he increased his speed even more. He winced slightly as Alex's claws dug into the nape of his neck, holding on tighter. Tonight was going to be hard on him.

Behind him, the minion roared. It was angry that the pets were getting away. Burakku angled his wings slightly, and entered his maximum speed. He quickly pulled away from their pursuer.

"Tonight will be long and hard," he warned Alex.

He shot off into the darkness and gloom of the night, disappearing in the distance.

Sunlight poured over the dense forest. Burakku had lost the minion skeith long ago, but had not stopped flying to gain even more distance between them.

His breath was ragged and he was flying close to the treetops as he continued on. When he saw a small river, he landed gratefully, making sure to set Alex down. They both drank deeply from the river before sitting back to rest.

"Now that I can hear you, how did you come to be out in the forest?" Burakku asked her.

"Well, a while ago I left my dad," Alex began. "I was pounded, therefore separated from him. I managed to escape the pound, and I was living in the forest a few days before the storm," she explained. "What about you?"

"Well, I grew tired of my family not understanding me, so I figured I would take an unannounced trip for a week or two," he replied.

He sighed and leaned against a tree, putting his hands behind his head. He gazed at Alex, trying to understand why she'd been pounded. She was so young, still delicate, if you will. As he watched her, he saw her face turned the lightest shade of pink.

"What?"

"Nothing," Alex replied, looking away quickly.

Burakku shrugged and looked up at the clear sky. From the corner of his eye he saw her steal another glance at him, but said nothing.

"I know someone who would love to adopt you," Burakku said after awhile.

"Really?" Alex replied with hope laced into her voice.

Burakku nodded. He had only just regained his breath when a crashing noise startled him. Alex squeaked and jumped into Burakku's arms, and he caught her thanks to his fast reflexes. He stood up, holding her close.

His eyes narrowed slightly, searching for the source of the noise. He chuckled when he found out what it was and set Alex down,

"Don't worry," he said, "It was just an old tree falling."

Alex let out a sigh of relief. Burakku took her hand and began to walk, trying to keep moving. He walked a bit slower so Alex could keep up. They began to chat about things irrelevant to their predicament, eventually finding the topic.

"Where are we?" Alex asked him.

"I don't know," Burakku replied with a shrug.

Both he and Alex looked around, trying to figure out where Burakku had landed them.

"Maybe," Burakku said after a bit, "I landed in a part of the uncharted territory."

"Think so? It's highly possible. After all, if anyone should be able to recognize a forest it's a korbat, and you don't."

Burakku looked at Alex, surprise on his face.

"I'd no clue you thought like that," he said.

Alex grinned and shrugged, obviously pleased at the compliment.

"I'm smarter than most my age," she said proudly.

Burakku smiled, ruffling the fur on top of her head. He said nothing more, just attempted to get through the dense forest.

Their peace did not last long enough, in Burakku's opinion. They were suddenly blasted to the ground by a large explosion.

"How did they find us?" Alex yelled over the noise.

Burakku swept her into his arms and ran.

"I don't know," he replied. He chanced a look behind them; a line of explosions was going off. He pumped his legs harder, speeding up. He leapt off a small cliff, landing a bit heavily. The shock of the impact traveled up his legs and to his spine, causing him to stumble a bit. He quickly regained his balance and kept going.

"There! Hide in there!" Alex told him, pointing to a rather small looking cave.

Burakku didn't have time to argue. He stopped in front of it and set Alex down. She scrambled inside, the korbat following quickly. The entrance was a bit of a tight squeeze for him, but he managed to get in.

"Wow," he said.

His voice echoed around the large cavern. At its center sat a large pool, an eerie luminescent light being cast from the still waters. Burakku walked over to it, looking down. Alex gripped his pant leg, not wanting him to fall in.

"Look, Alex," he said with a small smile.

Alex peered over the side. The pool went down forever, disappearing into blackness. She looked up when she heard Burakku walking away from her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I think this place is an entire system of abandoned tunnels and caves, going through the mountains."

He turned around to see her heading toward him.

"Stay here," he said firmly.

"But-"

"I said stay here."

With that, he turned and headed into the tunnels. He knew he'd find his way back; he had a rare gift. He found his way into a smaller cavern. Inside were barrels and barrels of some drink, still cold and fresh from the stone.

Burakku's curiosity got the better of him. He found a small wooden cup and dipped it into a barrel. Something that was not an everyday drink slid down his throat. It tasted of several different berries, yet had a fizzy tang to it. He dropped the cup when he heard Alex scream. He bolted back into the main cavern to see a minion holding her.

From everywhere, it seemed, minions, all laughing, surrounded him. They suddenly became quiet, and a darigan hissi slithered through the small opening they made.

"Who are you?" Burakku asked with a slight snarl to his voice.

The hissi smiled evilly.

"Ah, Burakku. My name is Dardran. I've been sent to retrieve you and Alex."

"Why?" Burakku growled.

"You are needed by my high queen. I'm not allowed to tell you why, however," Dardran replied.

Burakku leapt at him, snarling and baring his teeth, but two hefty skeith minions blocked him. He felt a sharp pain shoot through his head, heard Alex scream, and then everything went black.

The night sky was obscured, melting into the dark purple of rain clouds. Rain lashed down against the side of the stone building quite suddenly, lightning touching down miles away. There was no warning of the storm; it was unexpected. There was no wind; there was no thunder. The storm was silent, heavy rain quickly slackening off to a drizzle. It caressed Burakku's face as he was dragged along, his jeans and boots getting splattered by mud.

He was not under the protection of the umbrellas. His fur was completely soaked through, the cold of the rain welcomed on his burning chest. His eyes opened slightly.

Why was his chest burning?

He looked down to see a large gash running the width of his body. The rain was keeping it free of mud and dirt; thank heavens. He faintly became aware of someone sobbing softly; they were clinging to his stomach fur.

Through the dark, he could just make out the shape of a kougra. The weight from the other shifted slightly as he moaned.

"Burakku?" called Alex's scare voice.

She moved his hair from his eyes and peered at his face, minding his wound. Through his limited vision, the korbat saw his friend's frightened face. He gave a small smile.

"I'm alright," he said ever so softly.

Alex looked scared for a moment then must have realized what he said, for a relieved grin spread across her face. Burakku's smile faded as the open wagon bounced along the path, getting ever closer to their cell. More mud splashed inside; it was rather low to the ground.

They were in shackles, his right limbs chained to her left ones, Burakku's other ankle sporting a large iron cannon ball. One of Burakku's ears flicked as he heard Alex move.

She moved back a bit from his face, quickly lifting her hands from his chest when he moaned and closed his eyes tightly.

"I'm sorry!" she gasped, looking at him. Fear was unhidden in her large eyes.

He lifted a heavy arm and rested his hand on top of her head.

"It's fine," he grunted. "Don't worry about it.

Burakku sat up, grunting softly as his movements aggravated his chest wound. He pulled Alex into his lap, stroking her face softly. He was surprised to find she wasn't shaking. But he didn't let that stop him from humming softly.

The teen closed his eyes, rested his head against the wall behind him. It must have been about 10 minutes, but it seemed like one, when he felt Alex being roughly dragged off him.

"Get up, korbat," someone growled at him.

Burakku was hauled to his feet by his ears, hands being tied together behind him. Alex was in the same predicament. They were pushed from the cart, ghost falling heavily in the mud after trying to gain his balance. He bit his tongue, trying to keep from crying out with the intense pain that wracked his body.

The dark that shrouded the land was almost pitch-black. Even the guards had trouble seeing. Thankfully, though, Burakku could see just as well as in a moon lit night.

Normally, had he been feeling better, he would have used this advantage, but he was in too much pain. He and Alex were led into a large stone building lit by torches in wall sconces.

Through his black hair Burakku could make out the shapes of minions running to and fro as the small party trooped through a rather large atrium. So, this was the lair of whoever was hunting them?

Whoever was in charge obviously did not want to see them, as they were thrown in a cell. Unfortunately, the rain had begun again to lash against the wall of the building, getting in through the window.

"I'll get you when milady wishes to see you," Dardran hissed. The two were left alone, drenched in the rain.