Vo Spader wrestled against Gunny's strong grip. Finally escaping from the old man, he ran through the long vines and to the mouth of the flume… or rather, what used to be the flume.

"Kasha?" he screamed into the rock face, "Bobby? Kasha?"

"They're gone, kid," a low voice behind him said. Vo whipped around, his first instinct being that the voice belonged to a quig. But a quig who could talk?

An instant later he saw Gunny in front of the wall of vines. Vo shook his head, the disappearance of Bobby and Kasha had addled his brains.

"Gone?" he finally asked.

"Aye, gone," Gunny replied, "They've flumed to Zadaa."

Gunny stepped up to the edge of the had-been flume and tapped the rocks. He walked sideways, tapping the large rocks that blocked the entrance to the flume. Turning around, he ran a hand over his bald head and sighed.

"Kid, I'm new to this whole traveler business, but I'm guessing…" Gunny took a deep breath, "I'm guessing the flume's…destroyed."

And that's when Vo Spader collapsed. He fell to the ground and began to sob.

"Hey…hey there, buddy," Gunny said quietly, kneeling down next to his companion. "Everything's gonna be alright…"

Vo looked up. His face was covered with bright blotches of red, and his eyes were swollen. His face was wet with tears, which were steadily streaming from his eyes. "No!" he said loudly between gulps, "Bobby's gone. The flume's destroyed. Nothing will be alright…EVER!"

Vo yelled out the last word and jumped to his feet. He ran to the flume and began beating the rocks with his bear fists. The ring on his finger banged against the hard rocks, reminding him of its presence. Anger building in him, Vo pulled out the ring and threw it into the wall of vines behind him.

He faced the rocks again, drawing his red fists to his side.

"BOBBY! BOBBY PENDRAGON!" he bellowed against the rocks. "ZADAA!"

"Hey. Calm down," Gunny said in soothing tones behind him.

Vo shook his head, tears streaming down his face. He choked back more sobs and screamed, "BOBBY! KASHA! LOOR! MARK! COURTNEY!"

Hope crept into his voice. "COURTNEY? COURTNEYYYY!"

Gunny shook his head and placed a hand on Vo's shoulder. Vo turned around and looked at Gunny in the eye.

"Are you sure? That the flume is destroyed? SURE?"

Gunny nodded slowly. Vo closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them and walking towards the vines. Just as he was about to step out, he saw his ring lying at his feet.

A small idea formulated in his head.

"There's a way," Vo finally breathed. Picking up the ring, he turned around and looked at Gunny, a large bubble of hope graving in his chest.

"What do you mean?" Gunny asked, his eyebrows creasing in curiousity.

"The ring!" Vo said, holding the ring up for Gunny to see.

"The ring. We can operate it and contact Courtney and Mark and then… and then…"

"And then?" Gunny enquired gently, letting Vo figured out the rest by himself.

"We can't travel… by the ring…we can't…" the boy finally whispered.

Gunny nodded and sighed sadly.

"Vo, my boy," Gunny began, but Vo cut him across.

"That's just the way it was meant to be, isn't it?"

"Yes. Yes it is."

Xxx_xxX blah di blah blah… blah di blah blah Xxx_xxX

Author's note: Hey guys! It's me again, Apollo the second. Big hi to reader out there. It's my first fanfiction, so let me know what you think, okay? I wouldn't mind if you wouldn't want to review, but I'm not complaining if you're going to anyway.

I don't know if this is a one shot or not. More chapters might come up if anyone bothers to read and tell me what you think. Even if I have a single reader, I'll write.

Thanks a ton!

Oh and I'd like to clarify some stuff.

Vo is more popularly known as 'Spader' in D.'s version. But, I chose to call him Vo in my story because…well, I rather like his name.

In case you're wondering when this took place, it took place after Bobby and Kasha (the cat girl; traveler of Eelong) flumed out of Eelong. Kasha dies shortly afterward. It takes place after the book called 'Black Waters'.

The reason I chose this time to write is because Bobby's side of the story is written in his next journal, and Mark and Courtney's side of the story is narrated later. But since so far I have only read till Black Waters, I don't know if Vo and Gunny's side of the story is ever told. So I just decided to make up my own. It was fun, but it cost me most of my Science class.

But, obviously, making a good ending for Vo and Gunny (although it isn't really a good ending) was far more important than learning that like poles repel and unlike poles attract (darn, I remember that stuff. I should really stop paying attention so much. Curse myself for being an intolerable geek)

I hope you liked it! I couldn't figure out a way to get Vo and Gunny nicely flumed out of that awful territory of Eelong, but, folks, that's just the way it was meant to be.

Cheers!

Apollo-the-second