Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC's. Have a nice life.

Nathan was beginning to feel Luxa thought he was an idiot.

She knew the spinners could attack Iris in mid-air. She knew Nathan would die without Iris. He would fall down and hit the ground. Or the water. It largely depended on what he was flying over. And yet, she expected him to run along like a good little mindless soldier. He wasn't a cutter. Luxa wasn't a cutter. And he had a mind of his own.

Nathan walked into the heavily guarded Flier Protection Unit. It was an entire corridor, reserved for the bats. Because well, in the current war, fliers were in danger. It was mainly dark, but a few torches were set out for the guards.

"Iris, let's go," he waved.

"What is happening?" Iris asked.

"I must go to the Overland," Nathan replied as calmly as he could get out, without sounding frustrated.

"But we'll never make it there," Iris questioned, "We'll be dead thrice before we get near a passage way."

"Which is what I said to Queen Luxa! But her heart won't listen to reason. But, I will move to the Jungle before I ever disobey a queen."

They turned a corner into the High Hall. It was littered with webs and dead bodies. He saw a hisser who head a sword still buried in it's heart. He took it out, wiped it clean, and put it on his belt. He'd been wondering where it was.

A dead spinner that was still hanging from a web seemed to be staring at Nathan. He cut the web, and it fell to the floor.

"That was fairly creepy," Iris shuddered.

He mounted Iris slowly. Every breath felt like it took a life time to get out. It isn't every day you go to the Overland.

Mareth walked over to him, ready to go through the routine, that Nathan heard was required for all people going out.

"It is safe to depart. But be careful. Fly low. Keep an eye out for spinners, cutters, hissers, buzzers, or twisters. Do not sleep. Be ready to draw your swords at any sign of attack. Here we have a smaller scale map of the Underland. Each of the five entrances are circled in green. Take it and do not lose it. Avoid the Deadland at all costs. Don't fly near the surface of the Waterway, as the snappers and chompers have recently announced alliance with the spinners. Keep a quick pace. Don't kill if you can help it, as bodies are evidence, and try not to be seen."

"Right," said Nathan, feeling rather pathetic about his answer compared to what Mareth had told him.

Iris spread her wings and soared out of the High Hall.

"Iris! Fly to," Nathan said looking at the map. Mareth had written notes on the best passages to take to find Gregor. "This one! It leads straight to the building Gregor lives in. Iris glanced at the map and changed her course to find it. They flew through tunnels at top speed until they encountered a spinner. Iris tried to dodge it, but it jumped towards them. Nathan stuck his sword out and the spinner was now in two. They didn't run into any more problems until they got there. The entrance was nailed shut.

"Arrrrrg!" he yelled pounding on the… wood? It was real wood. Real wood was the rarest thing possible. At least in the Underland. He thought about how much people would pay for real wood. He began thinking about his own reasons for that, recovered, and flew off.

"Iris! Try this one," he said showing the entrance to her, "it leads to some kind of arena or something."

Iris flew over the Waterway. They arrived at a cone looking area. They rocketed through and soared over stairs. The walls changed as they flew by. From stone to a strange rectangular layout.

Iris stopped and Nathan climbed off. He looked back at Iris. They're eyes met. He looked at her golden eyes, surrounded by golden fur. He remembered back when he was twelve. The two of them had known they were meant they were to be bonds. Something had simply felt right. They had started thinking the same way, and finishing each others sentences before they were even bonded. Vikus said that was fifty times faster than most bonds. She looked at him and he knew she'd be fine here. If anything tried to attack her she'd be fine.

He pushed on the stone. It wouldn't budge. He pushed on it more. Nothing. He put all his weight into his upper body strength and shoved with all of his 16-year-old might. The stone seemed to laugh at him. Nathan grew very agitated. He pulled out his sword and shoved it through a crack. A loud screech followed. He yanked it back down. It had blood smeared on it the tip of it.

"What was that?" Nathan wondered, "Hmm, it doesn't matter."

He shoved his sword up again. He moved around the perimeter of the tablet, and then he brought it back down.

He shoved the tablet again and this time it moved. He laughed with the feel of victory. He pushed up and stepped out of the hole. The world was white.

Nathan moved the rock back into place and looked around. He took a step forward and heard a loud crunch underneath him. He moved his foot and looked down. A smaller version of a nibbler was at his feet. Except it was brown and had a huge bushy tail. He frowned. It had a huge cut in it. It was probably the thing he had stabbed. Suddenly, a breeze came by and Nathan shook. It was cold alright. Then it him. He was surrounded by snow.

"This must be New Cork City!" Nathan gasped.

He opened the pack that was prepared for him. Inside was: warm clothes, a dagger, sunglasses, and about two-hundred dollars in Overland currency.

He hid behind what he realized was a tree and put the warm clothes on. It was nothing much. A sweater, a coat, a pair of long pants, socks, shoes, and a strange hat that wrapped around his head. All the clothes were Overlander material, so he would blend in fine.

He walked past little Overlander children. They were speeding down hills of snow on strange plastic discs. He walked up to the parents and asked, "Hello, I was wondering if any of you kind folk knew where I could get something to eat?"

One of the men took a small smoking capsule out of his mouth and said, "Uh, yeah, Jimmie's Pizza, you can take a cab there or you can walk, your choice."

It took Nathan a while, but he figured out what a cab was and how to use it. He put on the sunglasses first, fearing the driver would be frightened because of his violet eyes.

Nathan gave the driver the address. He watched New Cork or New York as he now realized it was called fly by from the window. York. Like the governor of The Fount. Funny how things like that worked out. He arrived and gave the driver the money. He walked into the restaurant and sat down. A person came by.

"Hello, I'm Tasha I'll be your waitress tonight," she said in an annoying accent, "Would you like a drink?"

"Ahem, yes I'd like a," he looked around for a name, "a coke."

"Alright and here's a menu."

Nathan tried to find something on the menu he could buy, and he ended up picking a pizza with pepperoni and sausage on it.

The waitress came by with his pizza. "Pizza. What a peculiar word." Nathan thought.

He reluctantly picked up a slice of pizza and bit into it. An explosion of flavor claimed his mouth.

He finished the pizza and left money on the table. He decided to leave a few dollars extra, as he'd seen the others do.

Next, he tried to find Gregor. He walked around, aimlessly.

He ended up asking people. Finally, a boy told him he knew Gregor's family.

"They're nice people, but Gregor? He's been having troubles in the past two years. He's gotten the flu so many times. His grandma died a few months ago, too. Are you friends with them?" the boy asked.

"Yes," Nathan lied.

"Oh, that's cool. I'm Larry." the boy greeted kindly, "Bye!" he said as he walked away.

Larry had also mentioned the apartment building they lived in. He even had gone so far as to mention the address.

Nathan took a cab there and walked in. Inside was a large room that had a door to a stairwell. He climbed the stairs until he found the first row of apartments.

He knocked on every door. None had Gregor's family in there. Second floor was the same. He got really close on floor three, but the boys name was actually Gregory.

By the time he was done with the third floor, he was drained from disappointment, and all the stairs. He headed toward the stairwell when the last man he'd asked said, "Why don't you use the elevator?"

Nathan turned around, "Excuse me?"

"Right there," he pointed.

Nathan walked toward two gray panels. He pressed an arrow on the side that was pointing up.

He waited maybe half-a-minute before the panels slid apart. He stepped inside. An old lady, with glasses and pale hands stood next to him. She looked like she'd suffered one too many cold winters. She looked through her bags. Then she froze and slowly, knowingly, looked at him.

"Hello, are you from out of town?" she asked.

"What? Oh, uh, yes. I am not from New Cork- or New York."

She stared at him, "You know you can take your shades off."

Nathan nodded and did. He felt comfortable around this lady.

She kept staring, then let out a deep sigh, "Sooo," she said cooly, "where's your bat?"

"Oh, Iris is at the passa-" Nathan realized his mistake, "um, uh, wh-what bat?"

"Don't worry. I know why you're here. Gregor asked me to spot you people out."

The panels opened but on a different floor.

"This floor." the old lady said, "Gregor's next door to me."

Nathan was so consumed by relief and luck, he forgot to step out of the elevator.

He ran out as the panels shut. And he realized the lady had gone in before he saw where she lived.

So, he knocked on all the doors. Not one had Gregor inside.

He dropped to his knees. "Will I Ever Find Him!" he screamed. He knew he was acting like a fool. A sixteen-year-old boy on the verge of tears.

Then he looked at the other side of the hall. Another row of doors stretched across like a twister does when the prey is farther than it would like.

He straightened his coat and began knocking.

At last his journey finally reached the part where he would get close to the end, then something impossibly bad happens that results in mission failure.

He asked "Does Gregor the Overlander live here?"

The boy who answered gave him a look like, "How did you find me?"

Then he said, "I need a glass of water." and slammed the door.

Nathan looked at the old brown door.

"Is that a yes?"

My greatest apologies to all of that like short chapters. It was about twice as long as my last two. To clear a thing or two up: Yes, Nathan stabbed a squirrel. Yes, he is wearing a beanie cap. Yes, the kids were sledding. And yes, the man was smoking a cigarette. I explained it the way I did because I wanted you to feel as hopeless as Nathan. Thank you. Have a great day.