Back! This might be the last update for a while, what with school coming up so soon. I've got the plot for the next few chapters figured out, so I just gotta write it out. This is probably the longest chapter I have EVER written, so enjoy, and be grateful!

Remember, the "one-shot machine" is still open. Just send me an email with your requested plot, genre, rating,serious or silly, etcetera, and I'll post it in your honor.

But wait, if you wanted a fanfic written, wouldn't you want to write it yourself? Instead of demanding it from another person and laugh as you watch their pathetic attempts to do so?

YEAH, but what's the fun of that?

"Chapter IV: He DESERVED it."

You'll get the meaning soon enough.

The bulk of Amy's next day would be spent getting used to life in Aljandria, starting with an abrupt awakening.

"Hey Amy, wake up!" A voice whisphered in her ear.

Nnhg, five more minutes. She thought, too tired to speak out loud. I still feel like I just went to bed.

"AMY!" The voice was shouting now.

If she was tired then, the pink hedgehog was wide awake now. "Whoa, I'm up, quiet down!" She exclaimed, jumping out her warm comfortable bed onto the cold stone floor. Looking out her bedroom window (well, technically it was her's and Cocoa's; they shared a room) she saw the sun only just above the horizon line. "What are we doing up so early?"

"Chores." Cocoa answered simply. "We need to buy food, and get you a job, and gather herbs for burning in the nightime." Amy remembered Cherry lighting a strange-smelling fire in a pot on the windowsill, but at the time she didn't know what it was there for. So that's what the smell was. But why are they burning herbs? "What do we need to burn hubs for?"

"Keeps away the skurs." Cocoa was getting a little impatient now.

Amy wasn't sure what she was talking about, but wanted to find out. "Wait, what are skurs?"

"Giant green bloodsucking ticks with wings and a stinger." Cocoa replied in a suprisingly nonchalant tone. "They're real pests."

" 'Giant green bloodsucking ticks with wings and a stinger?' If that's a pest, I'd hate to see what you call a nuisance!"

Cocoa giggled. "That's why we use herbs. They're like bug spray, only you set them on fire. Now come on! There's lots I wanna show you!"

For such a small kid, Cocoa was quite strong, dragging Amy through the house and out the door. Despite the feeling of antiqueness that Aljandria gave off, the Longhair household was no rural farm. Despite the lack of technology, it was still quite nice, with wood doors between the rooms and soft linen sheets on the beds. In some places, knick-knack would clutters a spot, usually where Cocoa kept them. There were two comfy bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen that doubled as a dining room. There was a wood porch out side as well. Very Anne of Green Gables like.

Once outside, Cocoa led to the garden that resided beside the house. It wasn't so much a garden a large, overgrown patch of vegation that was filled of plants and rocks of different kinds. And so, crouching on their hands and feet, they rooted around for plants that weren't just grass and dandelions.

"We'd grow them ourselves, but for some reason they die whenever we put them in a pot." Cocoa said with a sigh. "Mom is working on it, though. After this, we need to hang them and let the plants dry."

Cocoa showed Amy what plants where effective against the skurs. One was a thin, twisting, light green vine with creamy yellow flowers named Angel's snare. Another, a heavyset spiky short one that didn't produce flowers called Giant Bane. ("Because it's a pain to get out of the ground. Get it, pain, bane?" Amy joked badly.)

They even a slight dent in the array of wildflowers that showed where Amy, when she Fell, had landed. "Wow." Cocoa said as they stared at the dent. "Feels like it happened just yesterday, huh?"

"That's because it did happen yesterday!" Amy answered, and she and Cocoa were sent giggling again, before going back to work.

Even though I can't remember my old life, I'd like to think I had a friend like Cocoa.

After after a few minutes of scrounging about, and enough herbs had been picked and hung, Amy and Cocoa straightened their backs. "'Kay, that should be enough to stop the skurs from sucking our blood." Amy fell back, landing on her bottom. "So, what's next?"

"Shopping. We buy milk and eggs everyday, and flour, soap, and other stuff when we run low on them. you know, stuff." Amy still didn't remember the way back to town square, where all the shops were, so Cocoa led the way on the beaten dirt road.

"So.. what do you after you finish buying groceries?" Amy wondered.

"On everyday 'cept Sunday, we work at our jobs."

"Wait a minute, you have a job?"

Cocoa shrugged. "Sure. I'm an errand runner, Mom runs an apothecary, Speed works at a bakery. In Aljandria, everyone's got a job. Which is why, today, we're finding you one!"

Quite a while later, a dark brown rabbit with light spots and a pink furred hedgehog lay side by side on their backs, panting as they lay is front of the Longhair household. It was pretty obvious they had been running a lot.

Although the shopping was easy enough, the animal duo had completely failed on getting Amy a job.

Baking didn't work.

"Hi guys!" Speed, kneading a roll of dough, was they first thing they saw as Cocoa led Amy into the house of sweets.

Cocoa was happy to see him."Hi Speed! I was wondering, are you guys hiring?"

Speed pointed at the 'Help Wanted' sign on the window. "Of course. There's a sign right there saying so."

For the first time since she Fell, Amy saw Cocoa sweat drop. "Right," she muttered to herself, obviously embarrassed. "Must've missed it."

"So you really spend all day making these?" Amy sniffed the many goodies on display, letting out a sigh of pleasure. "They smell delicious!"

"Yup. It's loads of fun, trust, me." Speed was now spreading flour on the dough he was kneading, creating a puffy white cloud around him. "You can make cakes, cookies, cupcakes, bread sticks, anything you want, really. And the pay is good too. I supposed the only downside is that there's flour floating around all the time, but you get used to it."

Amy smiled. "That's sound so fun! Cocoa, I think I've found my- achoo!" Her sentence was stopped in mid-sentence by a sneeze that was strong enough to blow Speed's baker's hat off his head.

"You okay?" The other two ask in unison, concerned.

"Yeah, just Choo! a litt-Choo! sneeze- Choo! Achoo!" There was no stopping Amy now.

"Yeah, I think we better keep looking. Bye Speed!" And Cocoa pushed a still sneezing Amy out the door.

"No really, I'm- Choo! fine."

Blacksmithing was worse.

"Mornin'!" Greeted the blacksmith, an elderly lizard with a flowing beard. " I see you want to try your hand at blacksmithing."

While the lizard was talking, Amy lowered her voice so only Cocoa could hear. "Are you sure this a good idea? I know I told you I'm tomboyish, but not quite that much."

"Sure it is!" Was the reply. "You said you liked to work with your hands, too, right? This fits the description perfectly!"

"...true."

"Blacksmithing is the art of shaping metal. To be a truly great one, you have to have patience, strength, and timing." Droned the blacksmith. He'd been going on for some time now. Something about hitting the metal at just the right temperature or whatever. "Observe." Suddenly raising his hand above his head, he struck the piece of steel he was currently working with, causing sparks to fly.

One of them flew to close to Amy, and with an "Eek!" she panicked and ran out of the workshop.

"Wait, Amy, come back! It was just a spark. Sorry, Mr. Blacksmith." And Cocoa went after her.

It wasn't until she ran a fair distance that Amy dared stop. "I just remembered... I'm... afraid of... fire..." Amy said between pants, to an equally tired Cocoa.

"Nice... to... know..."

And bar tending... was something both hedgehog and rabbit agreed to never speak about again.

"Well, hun, you look cute enough, and you mix those drinks pretty well," The bar's manager, a white bat with a shock of blond hair, concluded. "But we need to see how you get along with the actual customers. Look, there's one now, now how 'bout we your charms at work?"

After a mere five minutes, Amy was storming out the bar, Cocoa in tow. "I quit!"

The bat called after her, "But hun, you didn't even get the job yet! "

"I'm not taking any chances!" Was the reply.

"Was that really necessary?"

"Hey, that guy slapped my butt, he DESERVED to get punched." Amy was still fuming.

"You know I'm right."

"I guess. It'll be a while 'till we'll be allowed back in there- wait what was that?"

"What was what?"

"I heard something. It was coming from the garden. Wait here." Cocoa heaved herself up, and hopped of to the side of the house.

She gasped, and with good reason, too. Crouched over the drying herbs was something... or someone.

"Aw, does the wittle wabbit want his plants back?" The thing straightened itself, revealing itself to be a scrawny, but tall, blackbird. Dangling the bundle well above Cocoa's reach, he leered at her. "Then come an' get them."

Trying to sound more couragous than she really was, she put on a brave face. "You asked for it."

As you all should know, Cocoa happened to be a rabbit, and rabbits happen to have very powerful hind legs. Cocoa decided to put those legs into good use. Jumping up, she rapidly kicked the stranger in the face, somersaulting as she snatched the herbs out of his grasp before returning to the ground with a thump. "And she sticks the landing!"

The un-named blackbird stepped back, wings clutching his beak. "Argh! You're gonna get it now, you brat!" A wing swung at her, knocking the rabbit to the ground. He then stepped on Cocoa's body, claws pinning her to the ground.

Cocoa struggled against her scaly cage, but to no avail. "Lemme go! Lemme go!"

"Nuh uh uh. You gotta have a lesson in respect."

As the bird leaned forward, his face became clear. Cocoa gasped. She recognized this bird from some of the wanted posters drifting about.

Claw, he was a member of the largest and most powerful gang in Aljandria, the Creepers. The Creepers, depending on the town, committed crimes from petty terrorism to genocide. Claw in particular was responsible for many crimes, like robbery, vandalism, and, what was it, again? With a rush of adrenaline, she remembered.

Slave trading.

Cliffhanger! If I get enough reviews, you'll get the next chapter tomorrow. Yup, I'm blackmailing you, MUAHAHA- *cough.*

Ohh, what's gonna happen next? Chances are, you probably know.

OR DO YOU?

Nah, it's pretty obvious.

OR MAYBE NOT?

Till next time, I'll just imagine you hanging off the cliffhanger I gave you.