THEMESONGS:

Do the Panic ~ Phantom Planet

(it's not on the playlist because I can't find the song!)

.M.I.W.

2. New Faces, Old Friends

I sighed, realizing the sound came out in a long echo. I opened my eyes, only to see blackness.

I widened my eyes, and nothing changed.

Oh my God, the portals made me freaking blind!

"You!"

What?

"Hey! You!"

I turned my head to the side, and suddenly I was standing in a dark forest.

"What the hell?" I whispered, looking around. Really tall trees surrounded me, that much I could tell.

"YOU!" I looked up just in time, my head reeling as I tried to understand what was going on.

Three black shadows were coming straight towards me.

.M.I.W.

"Oh my God!" I yelped, sitting upright.

Sweat covered my bare arms and forehead, humidity rushing through me like a wool blanket. I stared ahead, blankly at a clear blue sky.

What?

I stared down at my gray pajama pants, covered with the chibi clouds with little lightning bolts, lightly dusted with red sand. I quickly grasped at my seraph, now tied to a permanent belt, and hooked it around my waist.

I jumped up, my bare feet gently scraping against the baked red earth. I spun around, taking full advantage of what I was seeing.

Red rocks everywhere with little shrubs lining the ground far below. There was a small clear stream running past, and my vision grew dizzy with the height of it all.

"Ugh." I closed my eyes tightly, heart racing, as I began to step back.

Only to trip over something soft, but hard enough to make me land on my ass with a thud.

"What the –?" I choked out as I scrambled up.

There, laying on her side so she faced me, was a girl. Brown soft, curly hair, smooth pale (ish, dammit) skin. She was wearing pajamas too, red ones that matched. She looked familiar, but I couldn't exactly place her. I looked at her in complete stupor as she began to stir.

"Wha…" Her eyes fluttered to reveal sea green irises, and I backed up a few very fast steps when her eyes widened. "Whoa!" She yelled, jumping up very gracefully.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded, already taking the defense.

She stopped in mid panic, and glared at me. "Who am I? Who are you? And where the fuck are we?"

Ah, another cusser, eh? I could work with that.

"Do I look like your tourist guide?" I snipped.

She stared evenly back at me as we sized each other up. She was probably only one inch shorter than me, and realization suddenly hit me.

I knew this girl.

Not like 'OMG you're from a novel I read!'.

No, more like I knew her.

In the real world.

"Oh my God." I took another wary step back.

"What?" She demanded.

"Do you know who I am?" I couldn't help but ask, knowing it was a stupid question as soon as I finished the sentence.

"Well obviously not!"

Okay, okay, touché there. Of course she didn't. She'd never seen my face, while I'd seen hers.

"Well, I've seen you before, and you know me. Um…" I reached out to shake her hand. "Hey, I'm Madi."

She stared at my hand, and then me for a long time. Then she finally spoke. "What?"

I dropped my hand back, and folded both arms across my chest. "Wow, am I seriously that forgettable? Dude, I'm Mad Ink."

Her expression was immediately shocked, almost frightened. "Oh my God!" She cried.

"Uh… Yeah." I said as I turned around to examine the height of the rock we were on again. "Don't worry, I've been in situations like this before, I'll figure this out."

"What the hell are you?" She shrieked again, and I spun around.

"A portal traveler." I explained. "But you can't tell anyone. I can travel to dimensions, not by my will, but by the will of portals. I've been to –"

"You're a mutant!" She interrupted me, her whole frame shaking.

I raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I know I'm obnoxiously and ruggedly gorgeous and all, but this is au natural –"

"No, no, no!" She took a few hesitant steps toward me to a point where she was only a few feet away. That was when I noticed a strange growth on her back, made up of honey colored and white feathers. "You have wings!"

Slowly, I craned my neck around.

Tucked neatly close to my back were a heap of dark brown feathers with some white.

"Nice." I sighed. "You have some too."

As soon as the words were uttered, KrazyWithaK spun around and looked at her back, eyes widening as an unheard scream came from her.

"Well," I straightened up as I walked towards the edge of the rock again. "I think I know where we are now."

.M.I.W.

Oh, I do wish I wouldn't be so vague at the end of chapters. It must get on people's nerves. xP