A/N: Next chapter up. This part should be a little more exciting to you guys, hopefully, and maybe you'll get more into it. By the way, I've hear the carrot symbols don't work here. I'll post with them, but if they don't, thought-speak will be… parentheses. Kay?

EDIT: Nope, they don't work. (Parentheses it is.)

The other EDIT: Okay, my wonderful reviewers have seen fit to inform me that poor Shane's gas has ran out of gas. I have helped him out, and now his gas has been upgraded to a truck. w00t for Shane. However, it is still out of gas. Also, other various things have been fixed. I was unawares as to whether Cassie had some sort of metal pole barn type object or an actual honest-to-gods wooden barn, sorry 'bout that ): Also, not trying to be rude to anyone or make fun of you, but… does everyone here know grammar is spelled with an 'a'? I'm honestly not trying to be rude, promise :D

Disclaimer: I no own. Illegal? Me no speaka English.

"Oh, man. This is so not cool. Come on, now!" Shane muttered to himself, turning the key to his truck. It rumbled, but didn't start. Shane slammed the dashboard and sunk into his seat. There was no way he was out of gas. And he didn't even know where he was.

He had followed this road, thinking it led somewhere, and now he was sitting in the middle of nowhere with no gas. And better yet, the road had been deserted for the past ten miles.

He hadn't passed any gas station in walking distance, but…

Hadn't there been a house he'd seen through the woods not too far back?

He pulled his keys out of the ignition and slid out, locking the truck. Operation Find-a-Ride began now. He sighed and took off into the forest, his shoes making a soft crunching noise in the dry leaves.

The forest was dim and silent. The trees were taller than where he was from, and they blocked most of the sunlight. But the floor was blessedly free of bushes and undergrowth, a miracle for his sneaker-clad feet.

He walked in silence for a while, looking around for wildlife. He was a city boy by birth, but the sheer amount of life in the forest was truly amazing. Ahead of him, the trees appeared to thin out, and he stumbled out into a small field.

He stopped cold, spotting a moving blob across the field. Something across the open space was moving slowly. From here, it looked almost like a deer, but it was blue and seemed off somehow. He thought about trying to get closer, but whatever it was, it would immediately see him and shoot off. Why were his glasses at home? Damn him and his vanity. And thriftiness.

Oh, wait a second now.

Shane's hand traveled down to his waist, and slowly, he opened the little pouch at his side, pulling out a camera. It had been his mother's, before; she loved to sit at cafés and parks and take pictures of people, so its one redeeming feature was an incredibly long zoom. All the better to see what didn't want to be seen. He turned in on silently and held it to eye level, using the zoom to pick out the creature.

Whatever it was, it wasn't local.

It was indeed a bluish colour, and he could see how, from a distance it could pass as a deer. It's bottom half was the exact shape and form of one, with small, delicate legs that ended in small, delicate hooves. But, where its head was, the torso of a man extended up, complete with arms and a human head. He couldn't make out the details, but the centaur… thing had two blue sticks sticking out of its head.

A long tail extended from its hind end, where most tails tend to start. It was long and sleek, curved in a neat crescent over the centaur's back. At that moment, Shane was relieved he hadn't moved any closer, because the tail ended in a wicked curved piece of something that looked like it could deal a pretty nasty paper cut.

But, even against his own better judgment and the possible threat to his life and limb, he couldn't leave and not get a picture of this.

The teen leveled the camera and, with one last hesitant look at the creature, hit the photo button.

What he hadn't counted on was the flash being on.

The centaur looked in his direction sharply, and he froze in place like a deer caught in the headlights. With most animals, if you didn't move, you were okay. They saw by movement.

Not this one.

It turned and galloped towards him, that tail suddenly quite alert and looking like butcher's knife in the hand of your crazy ex.

Shane didn't wait. He turned on his heel and ran.

Even though the forest floor was relatively clear, the centaur was gaining on him astoundingly quickly. There was no way he could outrun it, unless it somehow managed to run into a tree.

He stopped and grabbed wildly at a dead branch lying on the ground. With more bravado than he felt, he turned and held the stick in front of him like a sword, still clutching the camera in one hand.

"You better not mess with me!" he yelled shrilly at the creature, swinging the stick and trying desperately to look like he was someone you wouldn't want to mess with.

Flash. His stick was gone.

Flash. That sharp, dangerous tail blade was resting lightly on his throat. Even just barely touching it, he could feel a thin line of blood dripping onto his shirt. Good thing it was red. His aunt would kill for knives this sharp.

'Looks like I'm gonna have to wear turtlenecks for a while.' He thought, looking the centaur in the eyes. Good thing he liked turtlenecks.

Dammit, where was his train of thought?

(Put down the branch, Yeerk.) the creature didn't say.

Shane obediently dropped his little toothpick, trying not to swallow or breathe.

(Who are you?) it didn't ask, withdrawing the blade a half-centimeter so he could talk without slitting his own throat.

"Uhh, um, my name's Shane, I ran out of gas on a road near here, and I was looking for someone to take me to a gas station." He stammered quickly, trying not to look like he was about to piss his pants in fear.

There was no way this thing was from Earth. It didn't have a mouth at all, or a nose; instead, the lower half of its face was slit vertically in three places. The two sticks on top of its head had eyes on the top, which were constantly bending and turning, looking for more danger.

(Hey, Ax-man, what's – oh shit.) something else didn't say. He didn't know what the hell was happening, but he kept his stare on the centaur, unwilling to look around and see something else possibly more frightening.

(Tobias. We have a problem. Could you alert Prince Jake and Cassie?) the centaur called back, not looking around with his main two eyes either.

(Uh, yeah, sure. Cassie's parents are out of town, so there's no one in the barn. Take… take him there.)

(Walk.)

Shane lurched hurriedly, very aware of the presence behind him. He walked as fast as he dared, rushing to follow the centaur's one-word commands.

Eventually, a large wooden building emerged out of the trees. A dirt road on the other side led to a wide area a ways away, and the side next to them was open.

The centaur directed him to this building, and he entered hesitantly.

The inside was filled with cages and cages of injured animals. Next to them, a few stalls held horses. A black girl with short hair and jeans covered in stains was seated on a bale of hay across from the animals. Her mouth looked made for smiling, but right now it was drawn in a thin, tight line. When he and the creature entered, her gaze focused directly on Shane.

(Hello Cassie.) the centaur greeted quietly.

"Hi, Ax." She replied shortly.

A/N: Ooh, a cliffhanger. The next part is fun. What will they do with poor Shane? Also, I have this story written a little ways more in, but after a while updates will be slow while I continue writing.

Do the review thing plzkthnx. Reviews make me go OMGWTFBBQ!!!11111111111!!!1one!!!!111one. I do like them :)

Oh, oh, by the way: I haven't read the books in forever. So, please, if there are any canonical mistakes, tell me about them, because I probably didn't know. Also, I don't have a beta reader, so grammatical and spelling mistakes will abound. Please tell me of those as well. Thanks guys.