Enia: I honestly have no idea why the hell I started this chapter off with poetry. I think I was reading something and there was poetry in it and I was all 'hey! That's a good idea!' Don't judge me!

Going on a Chicken Hunt

Max's POV

Trompity, trompity, tromp.
Even though those totally aren't real words.
We're tromping through the forest.
There's a lot of frigging green
Almost too much, in fact,
And it's starting to piss me off.

Dear lord, I sucked at poetry. And besides, why the hell was I thinking in poetry in the first place? Those weirdoes were infecting me with their crazy or something. "Why can't we fly?" I complained, wishing I could rub my aching feet.

Teemo froze abruptly and facepalmed hard enough to leave a red mark behind. "You know…that's a really good idea. We'll have a better view from above." He looked over at Arin and Fred. "We really need to learn to think of these things."

They nodded.

Praise the Great Cheese in the Sky. Walking took so gosh-dern looooooong. I unfurled my wings and jumped up, weaving my way through the tight tangle of tree branches. Happiness filled me when I broke through the leaves and felt the soft warmth of the sun on my face. Only then did I finally think to wonder how the three strangers were going to fly, totally forgetting the powers we'd already see them use.

Teemo exploded from the trees a second after me on his flickering board of fire. Arin was close behind him, looking like she was hovering on thin air. Then there was Fred, looking green as he clutched a floating ball of purple…stuff. He was going to throw up, I just knew it.

"I really can't fly," he groaned, urping.

Teemo laughed happily at his friend's discomfort. "Yeah, you really can't."

Fred glared at him, the effect ruined by his pale face. "Shut up. I was talking to myself."

Ding ding ding! Warning! Warning! The Fourth Wall is broken! Repeat: the Fourth Wall is broken!

(A not so long ago in a galaxy far far away…or something like that…)

"Hey, Enia!" the authoress's best friend, Samik, yells suddenly, causing a rift in time and space and breaking the biggest rule in the Writer's Handbook; the breaking of the Fourth Wall.

"Uh…what?" Enia asks, already plotting how she'll kill him for breaking the Fourth Wall even though she's just making it worse by not ignoring him and going back to the story.

"Why aren't you in the story?" His eyes glint mischievously.

"Uh…because I'm the author and I'd rather not get cited or flamed for breaking the Fourth Wall?"

Samik snorts derisively. "So what?"

Enia glares at him suspiciously, suspecting that he has something nefarious cooked up. "Because stories don't work that way?"

"Psh." Samik rolls his eyes. "You're no fun. Come on!" He leaps forward and grabs her hand before he can dodge, waving his hand at the crack in the Fourth Wall (which looks suspiciously like the Crack in Time from Doctor Who). He tugs Enia forward.

"What?!" she screams, trying to pull away. But it's too late. She's pulled through. "AAAAAAA!"

"AAAAAAA!"

The sudden shout – more of a scream really – came from the cloudless sky. Everyone tensed and looked up, ready for a fight. Well, except for Iggy. He looked off to the right. Two flailing figures were falling towards us, one male and the other female. The guy was laughing happily while the girl screamed bloody murder at him. He reached out and grabbed her hand, righting them both so their fall was more controlled. She pulled her arm away, glaring, and at the same moment a fire board erupted beneath her feet. She tipped it upward, and her descent slowed quickly. The male swirled his arms and stopped next to her.

Teemo laughed merrily and waved at the strangers. "Enia!"

"Who?" I asked, wanting to know what the hell was going on. They had appeared out of thin air. People didn't just do that.

"My daughter."

My face went blank. Okay, it's official. They're crazy. Teemo looked like he was in his early twenties, and the girl was, like, sixteen. No way. What?

"Uh…right…" I said slowly. Maybe, she was, like, adopted or something. Teemo didn't bother to explain further.

"You idiot!" the girl yelled, pummeling her companion. I could barely hear her. "Why the hell did you do that? Do you know how much trouble we'll get in?"

The first few words of his response were lost in the wind, but I made out, "…be fun."

Teemo shot up to talk to them, grinning like a fool. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but Enia was gesturing angrily at the guy while Teemo laughed hysterically. I was sure she was going to kill them both. But all she did was glare at them. I caught a couple snippets of what she was saying. "Idiot…fourth wall…here…kill…"

Teemo pointed towards us, motioning for us to wave. Arin and Fred did so eagerly and enthusiastically, almost falling out of the sky, but the Flock stayed still, wary. The girl looked down at us, paled considerably, and shook her head, stomping her foot on the fire board. Laughing, her friend pushed her towards us. When she resisted, Teemo and the other one grabbed her arms and unceremoniously dragged her through the air.

Soon – as in ten minutes of pulling, dragging, and cursing on the girl's part – the threesome rejoined the rest of us. The girl glanced around furtively, probably plotting her escape.

Since no one spoke, I decided to take the initiative. "Uh…who are you?"

"I'm Enia," she said reluctantly, tugging at the hem of her tank top. She was tall and thin, constantly moving in some way, with short, messy brown hair, green eyes, and freckles. Her ears were pointed like Teemo and Arin's. She had the weirdest pair of brightly striped shorts on. Her friend was a little taller than she was. His hair was a shade or two darker than hers and messier – if that was possible. His eyes matched the color of his hair perfectly and they glinted with amusement.

"She's the author," he piped up proudly, grinning.

She punched him in the arm hard enough that he winced. "Shut up, Samik."

Hit the brakes! The author? What did he mean by that? "What?"

"Yes, the author," Samik explained happily, ignoring the daggers she was glaring at him. "Of this story."

I hadn't thought it possible, but I'd actually found someone crazier than Teemo. I looked at Enia and cocked an eyebrow. She winced. "Uh, yeah. He's right. I…created this story. I'm also the author of the story Darrel is from. Samik," she shot him a furious look, "decided it would be fun to be in the story. Except that we're breaking all the laws of writing-y-ness by being here and are going to get freaking killed!"

Samik just kept grinning that slightly evil and mischievous grin of his. Teemo slapped him five.

"Wait, if you're the author…does that mean you know our innermost thoughts?" Gazzy asked curiously. I gulped nervously and shot Fang a look. He met my eyes, unsure.

"No, I make your innermost thoughts."

Because that totally didn't sound creepy.

"So, you're making me say this?" Gazzy pestered.

"Yep."

"And this?"

"Yes."

"And this?"

"Yes, and before you ask, anything else you say."

Gazzy finally looked freaked. The younger members of the Flock subtly away from the newcomers.

"Then who's making you talk?" Iggy asked.

She hesitated, thinking. "Uh, I am."

"Then how are you writing this?" I wondered. "You're standing right in front of me and I don't see you on a computer of anything."

She shrugged. "I think what you're seeing is, like, my spirit or something, and my actual body is back home writing everything that's going on."

"Then why can I touch you?" I poked her in the arm slightly harder than was necessary.

"Maybe 'cause you're a spirit too."

Before I could respond and turn this into a great big philosophical debate, Iggy shoved himself between us, eyes squinted in frustration. "Stop it! This is making my brain hurt!"

Enia shrugged sheepishly and rubbed at her short, messy brown hair with one hand. "Heh, sorry."

"Hey, do you know where Darrel is?" Teemo asked Enia suddenly. "'Cause, you know, we're supposed to find him before the secret government figures out we lost track of him."

She scrunched up her face in thought. "Uh…I think he's in a cave somewhere. I haven't really decided yet. But yeah, probably in the mountains somewhere."

"Wow, you being here could actually be useful," I said with only a little bit of sarcasm in my voice. "Even though it will probably just give me a headache."

"Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically.

Samik smiled knowingly and nudged her in the ribs. "See, I told you this was a good idea."

"What!" she yelped. "No, you didn't! You just thought it would be fun!"

"Well, I was thinking it was a good idea."

"Yeah, right," she scoffed.

"Alright!" Teemo yelled with excitement at the chase, artfully interrupting the budding argument. "Let's go!" He turned to me, something glowing in his eyes. "Are there any mountains in these caves?"

We all stared at him. "…Don't you mean caves in these mountains?" Fred asked slowly, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Teemo answered. "What he said."

I nodded. "Yeah, there's a couple not too far from here." I angled myself to the east and set off, my wings beating powerfully. The sun was beginning to drop below the horizon , sending orange rays flooding across the sky.

"Are we going to stop soon?" Gazzy complained. He rubbed his eyes and yawned loudly, his mouth a dark O.

"In a couple of hours," Enia answered.

I immediately bristled. "Hey, I make the decisions!"

"No, I do," Angel disagreed instantly. I turned to bite her head off.

"Well, I make you make the decisions," Enia said. Okay, now that was an interesting sentence. "Oh, and Angel? Max is the leader."

Angel pouted in stony silence for the rest of the flight.


Two hours later, we finally touched down in a small clearing in the middle of the forest. All the younger ones instantly crashed, Iggy barely managing to climb a tree before he joined them. Teemo and Arin went off to talk in a corner, although I had no idea how a circular clearing could have a corner, but I decided not to question it, and Enia and Samik were staring fiercely at each other. It was a little creepy, actually, as if they were having an entire silent conversation.

I pulled Fang over to a secluded part of the clearing, deep in the shadows thrown by the trees. Woah, that could be taken creepily. "What do you think?" I asked him. "Can we trust her? She seems a little…crazy."

"Most authors are," Fang replied, shrugging. "It's, like, part of their genetic make-up or something."

"So you really think she's the author of our…story?" The word felt wrong coming out of my mouth. I was a real person, right? Not just the product of someone else's brain?

"You are a real person!" Enia yelled from across the clearing. Okay, her reading my thoughts or whatever it was she was doing was going to get really annoying really fast. "And you're not actually a product of my pen; James Patterson wrote your original story!" She paused. "Although, how much of the actual writing he did is questionable."

I decided not to answer her.

Fang put his hand on my shoulder in that somehow reassuring way he had. "I don't know what she is, but she could be useful to have along."

I shrugged, unsure. "Yeah, maybe."

Enia's POV

I glared angrily at Samik, my arms folded across my chest, eyes narrowed. He might have been my – ugh I hated the word – soulmate or whatever, but he still pissed me off most of the time we were together. Why the hell did you do that? I hissed in my head. Samik and I were telepathically linked; another benefit of the whole 'soulmate' thing. You're such a freaking idiot!

He grinned, both with his face and his thoughts. But this is fun. And different.

We're breaking ever single freaking law possible in the world of writing!

He grinned again. So?

So? We could get in major trouble!

With who? You always say you'll write what you like, and screw the people who don't like it.

Yeah…well…there are some things you just don't do!

Wuss, he teased.

I smacked him. Just, go away. I folded my arms and stuck my nose in the air. Samik snickered. We had such a healthy relationship.

Enia: Yay! end of chapter... uh, what chapter is this?

Samik: I think it's chapter four.

Enia: Okay, sweet.

Teemo: Are you going to be in the next chapter?

Samik: Yes.

Teemo: Yay!

Darrel: Why wasn't I in that chapter?

Enia: 'Cause.

Darrel: 'Cause why?

Enia: 'Cause I'm the author and I said so.

Darrel: I will kill you all.

Enia: You already said that, I think we get the point.

R&R?