CHAPTER TWO

DECEMBER THIRD

Rex opened his eyes and looked at the E. that were all still sitting around him. The blizzard had stopped and all was quiet except for the lizard creature's snoring. Rex chuckled. The white wolf opened her eyes and looked at him as she yawned. Rex yawned beck, then the birds yawned, the other wolves yawned, the furry snake yawned, and the giant lizard gave out one huge yawn.

"Why are yawns catchable?" Rex wondered out loud. The white wolf got off of his lap as Rex stood and stretched. The birds and snake stayed on him as he did so. They all looked at him funny like. "What? Are you going to follow me around or something?" They all nodded. "Yeah, ok. But I have to give you names or I'll go nuts."

They nodded. After figuring out who was male and who was female Rex named them. The white wolf was called Rosary, the grey one Sarah, and the black one was Sam; the birds were Casey and Carl; the snake was Curly; and the lizard was Raven.

"Ok then, let's go," Rex said as he walked out into the bright sunlight of the north pole. He looked around and sighed. "I have no clue where I'm going." Raven made a noise and they all looked at him.

Raven's sides wiggled and he stretched out two huge wings. After stretching them and wiggling them around a bit he lay down and looked at Rex. Rex blinked. Casey and Carl landed on Raven's horns. Rex shrugged and sat between his wings and his head.

Raven stood up and looked down at Rosary, Sarah, and Sam. They all barked and pranced around. Raven bent down and stretched his wings out funny. Rex's new pet birds clenched tighter to Raven's horns and braced themselves. Rex grabbed onto a thick spike and leaned into it, bracing himself also. Curly tightened his tail onto Rex's shoulder.

"Oh man," Rex muttered just seconds before Raven took off into the sky. Rex screamed and held tightly to him as he took to the sky. He evened out and dived down a little. Rex slowly opened his eyes. "Whoa," he breathed looking around.

Some small flakes started to fall around them. Casey and Carl let go of Raven's horns and flew next to his head as he swerved in the sky. Rex looked down to see Rosary and the other wolves running below them.

"Whoo-hoo!" Rex yelled loudly and raised his hands into the sky. Raven roared and Rex quickly gripped tightly to his spike and Raven dived. Rex screamed as Raven skimmed the snow and then flattened out in the sky. "Keep steady!" Rex told him as he stood up. Curly clutched his shoulder even tighter.

Rex jumped off. Raven roared worriedly. Rosary barked knowing what he was about to do. He pulled his goggles on and turned on his boogie-pack. Raven roared and flew next to him.

"Yeeeeah!" Rex yelled as he dived down near the ground. He leveled and Rosary ran up next to him and gave what he guessed was a grin. She took off at full speed, quickly getting ahead of him. Sam and Sarah also passed him along with Raven. "Oh yes! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Rex took off as fast as he could to get into the race that had just started.

Six opened his eyes slowly and groaned. His heart no longer burned be he still hurt. Holiday looked over at him and let out a long breath.

"He's awake," she said walking over to him. Knight stood up from where he was sitting and looked as Six sat up. Holiday kindly helped him do so. "You'll be fine, just need to take it easy for a while." Six nodded.

"How long had it been happening before Holiday arrived at your aid?" Knight asked walking slowly over. He was grateful that his friend was alive, but he didn't want to show it.

"Not too long, few minutes maybe," Six answer putting a hand over his chest. He blinked in surprise and looked down at it. He was rapped up and he saw a scar going just barely passed it. He decided he wouldn't ask.

"Well, you're alive and well, that's what matters," Holiday said. "Do you know what caused it?" Six froze as he remembered.

"No," he lied. Holiday nodded. Knight eyed him, Six knew his old partner knew he was lying.

"Oh, you can have these back." Holiday handed him his glasses. He blinked. He thought everything looked funny, but he hadn't noticed that they were missing. He put them back on and nodded.

"Thank you," he said. Holiday nodded and walked away. Knight walked over to a small table and came back with a shirt and jacket.

"You might want these too," he said. Six smiled a little and pulled the clothes away from his friend. Knight snickered. "Now, tell me the truth, what caused the heart attack?" Six's smile faded as he put his shirt on. He sighed.

"I was screaming at myself, I overacted and paid the price," he said.

"About?" Six glared at him as he buttoned up his shirt. He knew he wasn't going to get away with that it wasn't important on this one.

"Rex's death," Six said quickly. Knight nodded and walked away, leaving Six to putting his shirt and jacket on. Holiday walked in as Six put his jacket on. He winced slightly and stopped.

"Let me help you," she said walking over and helping him put his jacket back on. Six swallowed.

"Thanks," he said. Holiday nodded and went back to what she was doing. Six got off the medical bed and walked away. Holiday sighed. She knew he had been blaming himself, and most likely it had caused the heart attack. She sighed. This life was never easy, never easy at all.

Six sat down in his room and looked at his swords, still standing upright where he had left them. He picked them up and put them in his sleeves where they belonged. He sighed and prayed that God would help him.

Rex leaned up against Raven and looked at everyone as they lay in the sun in the snow. Rosary, being white, was very hard to see. He smiled. When he wished for the best Christmas ever, he had never seen this coming. He blinked. What about Six and Holiday? They thought he was dead! He had to get back.

He stood up and Raven grunted. They all looked at him as he walked away. They quickly stood up and caught up with him. He stopped walking and looked down at them.

"I have to go back," he told them. They cocked their heads. He sighed. "I have family back home, and I need to get back to them," he explained. They nodded in understanding.

Raven stood up and the snow fell off his back. Rex blinked in confusion as Raven huffed. Raven stretched out his wings and nuzzled Rex a little on the shoulder. Raven took off in a flash.

Sarah and Sam rubbed up against his legs and then ran away. Curly stayed across Rex's neck but the birds squawked lightly and flew away. Rosary sat at his side. Rex shrugged.

He turned to his left and walked away with Rosary following close at his heels. Rex looked around him, not really sure what to do or where to go, as he continued to walk around.

"Maybe I can just fly home, what do you think Rosary?" he asked looking down at her. Rosary barked and he thought she shrugged. He sighed. Rex didn't know what he should do. He needed to get home, but how? He stopped as he realized he was walking on ice.

He turned around. Rosary sat a little ways behind him. She whined. Rex shrugged and walked back to her. She barked happily as he stood next to her. He sighed again. Now what?

"Excuse me mister," said a voice. Rex turned to his right. There Rex saw a little girl of about ten. He blinked.

"Um, yes?" he said.

"You must me Rex, correct?" Rex nodded. She smiled broadly. "Good. I'm here to take you home."

"What? Is this some kind of joke?" Rex said. Rosary looked from one to the other as they spoke.

"No, no it's not. You were going to fly home, but believe me, that's not a good idea," she told him.

"But, you're only ten," he said. She nodded.

"I know, but I know how to get back, I promise." Rex sighed.

"What do you think Rosary?" he asked looking down at her. Rosary barked and ran over to the girl. "Ok then." Rex walked over.

"Oh good, you are coming," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, now, what's your name?"

"My name's Elaina," she told him. Rex shrugged.

"All right, where to?" he asked.

"This way!" she said and ran off.

"Hey! Wait up!" Rex yelled as he quickly ran after her. Rosary barked and was right behind him. She stopped and turned around, waiting for him to catch up. Once he did she took off again. Rex sighed as he ran after her again. This was going to be a long day, a long day indeed.

Six walked down the halls. He was thinking, thinking about Rex and a few other things. He stopped in his tracks and in his thoughts as he entered the computer room. Holiday stood there working on something or other.

"Holiday," he said as he walked over.

"Six," she said back as she smiled at him a little. As she looked away she thought she saw Six smile back at her. She forced herself not to take a double take on this just in case he didn't smile or that he had wiped it away from his expression as he always did with every tiny bit of expression he ever gave, but Holiday liked it when he gave them, even if they were small and only lasted a little while.

Six, in fact, had smiled back. But of course he had also wiped it away from his expression. For once in his life Six asked himself why he did so. Because he didn't like it? Because he didn't want them to see him emote? Or was it because he had just gotten so used to it and couldn't break the habit. Maybe it was the latter. If he was lucky.

Rex looked around him. Where did she go? She disappeared. He sighed. He just had to follow the ten-year-old didn't he? She was his guide and his responsibility. He groaned.

"Elaina! Elaina where did you go?" he called. He groaned.

"What?" she said as she jogged over. "Can't you keep up?" He glared at her. "Apparently not. Sorry, geez."

"Can we go now?" She nodded. She turned around and walked this time. Rex followed. She skipped a little and hummed some sort of tune. Rex sighed. Was he anything like this? Did he bug Six this much? Most likely the answers were yes.

"Well, here we are, our first stop," she said walking into a cave. Rex let out a sigh as he looked around the small cave. He looked out of the cave as the sun set. "The days are shorter and the nights are longer here. So we wont have a lot of time to walk around." Rex nodded.

"Ok then," he said. Elaina sat down and leaned against the rock wall. Rex sat on the opposite side and sighed. He closed his eyes and let out a long breath. His eyes shot open and he looked down as Elaina leaned up against him and shut her own eyes. Rex shut his eyes again and fell asleep.

Six threw his swords into the last target. He walked over and retrieved it. He let out a sigh and walked back so his corders. Somewhere in the back of his mind something kept telling him that Rex was not dead. He didn't know how that was possible, but somehow he just couldn't shrug it off.

He stopped in his tracks as Holiday stood before him in front of his corders. He raised and eyebrow in her direction as he walked over to her. She kept her eyes on him as he did so.

"Am I the only one that's got the feeling Rex isn't dead?" Six stopped a few inches in front of her."

"No, no you're not," he said. Holiday nodded.

"I didn't think so," she said and walked away. Six blinked. What on earth was that all about? He shrugged it off and walked to his corders. Maybe he'd figure it out tomorrow, at the moment he was tired and needed to sleep.