A/N: Sorry about the delay again. I got extra busy 'cause of all the end of the semester stuff for university. So I decided to make this chapter a bit longer for you readers. Thankfully, school ends in two weeks and then I'll have more time to write. Well, enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own any the Danny Phantom characters.

Chapter 7 Perro the Horse

"Are you listening, Danny?" Aleksey asked me critically.

I'll admit it. My mind was nowhere near the lecture I was presently getting. I was still getting over the grand scenery. When Vlad and I had landed in the helicopter the other night, it had been too dark to see. But now a new day was starting, and the sun was sitting low and clear on the horizon like the perfectly yellow yoke of an egg. Just the short walk from the ranch house to the stable was jaw dropping. Rolling plains of grass spread out in every direction. They stopped only for the far off jungles of towering mountains that had peaks clawing at the clouds in the sky. One of them was an actual active volcano. It was awesome!

"Yeah. Sure," I said automatically. The standard answer to that question.

"Good!" Aleksey said with his usual enthusiasm. "Then hold this while I teach you how to saddle your horse."

"Okay...huh? Oh...wait...oof!" Clear, correct sentences escaped me as a whole western saddle and blanket was dumped into my arms. The stuff weighed a ton! The burden came as a surprise, and I almost collapsed under it.

"Now, you put the blanket on first," Aleksey instructed as I fought to stay upright. "Make sure to have everything out of your way first before you gently put the saddle on like so. Be careful not to spook your horse. Once that's done, lower your cinches, breast collar, and stirrup. The front cinch is very important. You want to gently make it snug like this. Watch what I do. Next is buckling the back cinch. Like...so. There! Now we buckle the breast collar. And that's it! Any questions?"

"Um...can you repeat that?" I asked, staring at my impatient horse in peer confusion.

"Which part?" he asked.

"All of it."

Aleksey let out an aggravated sigh and ran a hand through his wispy, silver hair. Apparently, I was slow on the uptake of horseback riding. I'd feel bad if I wasn't so genuinely confused and unmotivated. Why had I been forced out of bed at 7 in the morning? To ride a smelly horse? This was dumb.

"Having troubles, Daniel?" Vlad asked from where he was finishing up saddling his own horse.

"Possibly," I answered slowly and reluctantly. I really didn't want to be there that early morning, but this was better than pouting in my room all day. Besides, if Vlad wasn't going to watch my every step, I was gonna watch his. And that meant learning how to ride a stupid horse.

"Here, I'll give you a hand," Vlad said with an amused sigh. I gritted my teeth in frustration when I felt my cheeks flush in embarrassment when he so easily took the saddle out of my hands and put it on my horse's back. He motioned for me watch him as he showed me which chinches to tighten and buckle. In the end, though, he let me do all the work on my own.

"That it?" I asked when finished.

"Yes," he answered, walking away. "Now Aleksey will teach you how to steer your horse. Listen closely to him."

"Alright," I muttered.

Suddenly, I was faced with a problem. I didn't exactly know how to get on the horse. I sized the situation up as quickly as possible. Making a fool of myself wasn't on the to-do list today, but so far that's all I had been checking off. Now I faced the impossible task of getting on the horse which kept shuffling forward like it couldn't wait to get rid of me. I didn't blame it.

"Come on," I told the horse in a whisper. I sucked up my fear by gripping the horn of the saddle with both hands. "Stay still for just a second for me, okay? That would be great. Thanks."

With a mighty jump, I flung myself up onto the saddle...and failed miserably. All I managed to do was get off the ground, my body draped over the saddle. The horse got a bit jumpy and began to walk in a tight circle. To make things worse, Aleksey burst out into laughter at the sorry sight of me. Vlad tried to hide a smile behind his hand.

Fighting off dizziness, I pulled my body up enough so I could slip my leg under me. From that point, I could put my feet in the stirrups and grab the reins. The horse managed to calm down enough to stop going around in a circle once I was in that position.

A small breath of relief flowed out of me. Thankfully, that embarrassing part of the day was over with. Goody. Let the humiliation continue!

"Are you alright?" Aleksey asked me, still chuckling a little.

"Fine," I said with my eyebrows knitted together in dissatisfaction. "But I think something is wrong with this horse."

"Oh, the horse is fine!" Aleksey assured me with a wave of his hand. "Perro is always like that. He's just excited for the ride to follow."

"Perro?" I asked. "That's his name?"

"It means dog in spanish."

"You named your horse dog?" I asked just because I wanted to make sure what I heard was real. Seriously? I felt like I was in a mad house at this point.

"Of course! He acts more like a dog than a horse. It's a perfect name for him."

"Does he play fetch?"

"No."

"Does he bark?"

"No."

"Does he chase cars?"

"No."

"Does he have fleas?"

"No...wait...no." Oh, very reassuring.

"Sounds real dog-like to me," I said sarcastically. Yep. Nut house.

"Cheer up, Daniel. The day has only begun. You'll get used to riding by nightfall," Vlad told me with a wicked grin which only made me want to punch him in the face. I would if I wasn't stuck on the horse. Literally. I didn't know how to get off without hurting myself.

"To get your horse to move, Danny," Aleksey instructed, "you simply have to tap your heels against his side. To go faster, just give him another tap, and so on and so forth."

"Seems easy enough," I murmured more to myself than anyone else. I kicked my heels inward, and I got instant results from Perro. He casually started to walk forward, but I could tell he was itching to go faster. I had to agree with him.

"You steer your horse with the reigns," Aleksey continued. "Pull right, Perro will go right and visa versa. Perro is an easy one. He will do everything that you tell him to because he is like a trained dog. He's good for beginners like you." He watched as I experimented with the new directions before adding, "To stop, pull back on the reins. But not too forcefully. That hurts the horse."

Aleksey was right. As soon as I pulled the reins one way, Perro was going in that direction as if he had predicted my wish before I'd even acted upon it. Since he seemed ready to do whatever I wanted, I quickly pulled the reins one way until Perro had turned a full circle; then I pulled the other way to complete another circle. Satisfied with my feel of command, I gently pulled up on the reins and was granted a complete stop.

"I think I'm gonna like Perro," I said with a grin. I patted the animal on his neck like I'd seen Aleksey and Vlad do with their horses. Perro looked up at me with his big, black eyes, and I swear I saw a smile in them.

"Aye. He's a good horse," Aleksey agreed with a prideful nod. I could tell he had a real heart for his horses. They were his pride and glory. "He'll be yours for your entire stay here. I give you permission to take Perro out for a ride whenever you wish."

"Really?" I said, taken aback by the statement of freedom. I quickly glanced over at Vlad as if for permission. I hated to have to run everything by him, but Vlad was the one with the remote to my dad's watch. He gave me a nod. A grin that couldn't be contained broke across my face. "Cool. Thanks!"

"Now that lessons are over," Vlad piped up as he brought his horse between mine and Aleksey's, "I say we have a little race." He shot me a competitive smile. I refrained from returning one.

"Oh, that does sound like a good idea," Aleksey said, his eyes lighting up in enjoyment. A sly, oily smile oozed across his features as he glanced over at Vlad and I. Swiftly, he kicked his horse into a gallup as he shouted over his shoulder, "Last one to reach the edge of the jungle has to unsaddle the horses!"

"That cheater," Vlad chuckled under his breath as he followed suit and made his horse chase after his uncle's. In seconds, I was left in the dust.

"Well, it's nice to know that adults still act like ruthless, little kids," I said. I was tempted to stay where I was and let Vlad and Aleksey leave without me, but I decided since I'd come this far it would be a waste of time if I sat here and did nothing all day. There was no harm following, right?

Besides, I was longing to see how fast Perro could go.

With a swift kick to his sides, Perro took off after Vlad and Aleksey. I was almost yanked out of the saddle and had to quickly grab the horn to stay in my seat. A laugh bubbled out of me as I felt the wind blast through my hair and clothing. The speedy ride wasn't as fast as when I flew in ghost form, but it was the closest thing I'd gotten to in days.

I urged Perro to go faster. He complied without any hesitation. I could feel his body working under me, every move of his strong muscles as they labored perfectly in unison to Perro's breathing. His hooves dug into the ground and kicked up clouds of dust with each pounding, rapid step.

It was an incredible feeling to be on that horse's back. The animal had so much power, and somehow I was in charge of directing it. The best part was how much I was trusting Perro to do as I what I told him to while he trusted in me to give him the right commands so that we both functioned as one. It's kind of hard to explain, but it was awesome!

Our trust was so strong right off the bat, I let Perro do as he wished at the end of our race. We had galloped for quite a while until we reached the edge of the plains. After that, there was a small drop off before the terrain turned into jungle. It was a steep embankment, so a pathway had been made into its side to safely get the horses down to the jungle.

Vlad and Aleksey waited for me at the boarder. While Perro was fast in my standards, he was pretty slow compared to their horses. I didn't notice this until Perro and I finally caught up with them.

Perro didn't slow down when we approached the drop off. I thought for sure he'd stop, so I didn't pull back on the reins. Vlad and Aleksey thought the same as I, because they didn't become alarmed at my fast arrival until it was too late to stop.

With wide eyes of alarm, the two men watched as Perro ran right past them and down the steep embankment at full speed. At that point I was too scared to do anything but give a short yelp of fear before the breath was stolen right out of my lungs. Perro was practically vertical as he rushed down the hill with me hanging on for dear life on his back. The horse had no fear whatsoever. He knew that if he kept the same speed, we'd both be fine on the way down. Perro expertly executed the risky maneuver and eventually came to a trot at the bottom before stopping.

Like Perro, I gasped for air. My hands had formed a death grip around the horn of the saddle. Forcefully, I pulled them away and looked up in somewhat of a daze. Couldn't believe I'd just survived that crazy stunt!

"Are you alright, boy?" Aleksey called down to me from the top of the hill.

"That was...awesome!" I yelled back up with a whoop of excitement.

Aleksey paused for a second. I think he was surprised by my exhilarated reaction to almost dying on his insane horse. Vlad said something I couldn't hear before Aleksey shouted, "We're coming down, Danny! Stay where you are till we get there!"

I did what I was told as the two slowly trotted down the pathway that zig-zagged across the side of the hill. I patted Perro's muddy brown coat that was shiny and slick from sweat a few times to congratulate him on a job well done. He seemed to take pride in this because he held his head just a little higher than before.

"You gave me such a scare, Danny!" Aleksey told me as he and Vlad got close. He released a hearty chuckle, saying, "I knew Perro was a crazy one, but no one has ever let him do that before! You must be very trusting, boy."

"It seemed like he knew what he was doing," I said with a grin. "Guess he did."

"Ha ha, yes, he did!" Aleksey laughed. He patted me on the shoulder before moving his horse toward the jungle. "Come!" he said. "I'll teach you how to shoot your own jungle cat now."

"Go ahead, uncle," Vlad said. "We'll catch up."

"Sure, sure." In seconds, Aleksey and his horse had vanished in the deep foliage of the jungle. The leaves seemed to swallow him up.

I glanced over at Vlad, my puzzled face already questioning him as I asked, "What is it? What I do wrong now?"

"Don't do that again," Vlad said after a short pause. The hard tone in his voice betrayed the emotion on his face. Was that...concern? For me? I almost couldn't believe it. Was Vlad really worried about my well being? Was that even possible? I guess it was 'cause it was pretty distinguishable on his features. Either he was losing it, or I was becoming better at reading his emotions.

"You have a heart now? Is that it?" I asked with a cruel grin.

"You don't have ghost powers right now, Danny," Vlad told me sternly. "You are not indestructible. You're just as human as anyone else when your watch is activated like it is now. That stunt you pulled could have easily killed you."

"I know that," I retorted. My grin faded with the seriousness of the subject. Did he think I was that stupid or careless? Sheesh. He was bugging the crap out of me. I didn't hide the emotion as I told him, "And if you're so afraid I can't take care of myself while I'm stuck being human, then give me back my ghost powers. Don't preach to me about being all safe and crap, Vlad, when you have the power to change that for me."

That said, I kicked Perro into a trot and rode into the jungle. Silent and sulky, Vlad followed.

-Hours Later-

It was hot. More than just hot. The air was stuffy and suffocating because of the humidity. You could swim through the air it felt so thick and heavy. To top that off, the sun was constantly shining down on the jungle. Although the trees and leaves prevented direct contact between me and the sun, the heat made the giant forest feel like a sauna.

To keep complaining, I was hungry because my watch was nearing 2 pm and I hadn't eaten since breakfast at 7 that morning. Also, my butt was beginning to fall asleep from sitting in a saddle most of the day.

Oh, and let's not forget about the bugs! They were everywhere all the time. Seemed like ever few seconds I was swatting at another mosquito that had deemed me its lunch or dodging some whopping huge beetle that flew too close because it decided to freak the tourist out by dive bombing me. If it wasn't death by hunger or heat, it was death by vindictive bugs.

Besides the heat, hunger, and bugs, I was fine...except for the fact that I was totally against jaguar hunting. Aleksey had tried to teach me how to aim and fire my gun, but I pretended to suck at it because I didn't feel like it was right to shoot an animal that didn't need its population shortened to save its species' starvation in the coming season. Maybe Sam had more influence on me than I thought. Don't get me wrong. I'm totally for hunting and shooting and stuff back home, but for some reason I couldn't justify it for jaguars. I also wondered if it was legal. Were jaguars endangered animals? As a superhero, I always wanted to do the legal thing.

Thankfully, Vlad saw my lack of enthusiasm and distracted his uncle for the rest of the time we hunted. He didn't need to bother. We were out there in the jungle for hours and hardly got a sniff of the big cats. They were either pretty clever and knew when to stay away from us or they were very well hidden.

Maybe Aleksey had killed all of 'em. I'd seen enough animal pelts on his ranch house's walls to believe it. Yeah. Creepy.

We were just finishing up for the day when things got interesting. Arriving at a small, clear stream, the three of us dismounted our horses to fill our canteens and let the horses drink and rest before we returned to the ranch for lunch. I was partial to that idea because for the past hour my stomach had given me signals of starvation.

"These bugs just don't quit, do they?" I asked Vlad, whacking the billionth one of the blood suckers that day.

"I thought you put on bug spray," Vlad said like a chiding parent. He soaked a bandana in the stream before wiping it over his sweaty face to cool off.

"I did! I think my sweat washed it off, though," I said. To escape the heat, I poured the cold water in my canteen all over my head. Man, that felt good!

"It's possible," Vlad muttered. "Don't do that, Daniel. It only makes everything wet. Just drink your water next time."

Smiling evilly, I shook my head back and forth to sprinkle droplets of water all over Vlad like when a dog shakes himself to dry off. I laughed when Vlad gave a disgusted cry and recoiled. "It's just water," I teased with a bit of gloating in my voice.

BAM!

"Holy-!" I hissed in alarm at the sudden sound of a gun shot. My muscles had instantly knotted together at the loud noise. I hadn't expected it.

"Ah-ha! I believe I got him!" Aleksey shouted in jubilee as he relaxed his grip on his recently fired rifle. "Quickly now! Let's get him!"

As Aleksey took off in a run across the stream and into the jungle beyond, Vlad glanced back at me expectantly. He saw the reluctance in my face. Our eyes made contact, and I asked him silently to do me a favor and spare me just this once. He frowned but didn't refuse.

"Stay here, fill our canteens, and take care of the horses," he ordered me as he ran after his uncle. "We'll be back in a few minutes, alright?"

"Fine with me," I said, thanking him with a terse smile. In seconds, Vlad had performed the same magical vanishing act as his uncle. The dense jungle enveloped his form until it was lost in all the green.

I sat staring at the spot he'd disappeared for a while after he was gone. An unsure frown had crossed my features. Questions buzzed around in my head; they were like the pesky multitude of bugs in the jungle. There have been times in my life where I'll admit that I've questioned myself and my decisions. I've messed up plenty of times, but I've also done just as many good things. That's just being human. That day, though, my insides were wrought with indecision and confusion about myself and Vlad.

Experience told me Vlad was up to something sneaky and suspicious. I could lose count if I had to number the reasons why I should never trust Vlad. The only hitch was his recent actions. They were nothing like his past ones, which started me thinking.

What if Vlad was actually, truly trying to be nice? Maybe he had a slight change of heart and wanted to make it up to me by giving me this vacation. Giving? No. That was the wrong word. Forcing me is more like it. Still, would I have come with him if he hadn't made me? Probably not.

This only made me review all Vlad's past actions as well as my own. Weren't some of Vlad's decisions based off of the wrong I did toward him? I wasn't gonna try to make Vlad a good guy. The stuff that he did was evil and would stay evil. I just questioned my reaction toward it now. Was my deep hatred for him because of a childish grudge? And if Vlad genuinely wanted to give me a vacation, was it wrong of me to refuse to have any fun? If I did refuse, wasn't I just being a pouting little kid? I didn't want to be that way. I was 16 now. I wanted to be treated like an adult, but I first had to behave like one.

I didn't know where the line was; that line that told me how much fun was too much fun when in the presence of Vlad. It was like someone had drawn the line in the sand, but then the tide came in and washed it away with a couple of waves. I could only hope I hadn't gone past it as I precariously walked down my narrow superhero path.

Fed up with my inner turmoil, I slowly stood up with a sigh. "What am I doing here?" I muttered to myself as I rubbed the back of my sore neck.

A distant sound to my right made me glance that way. Nothing was there. The same sound came from my left. I snapped my head that way just as the sound returned on my right but also came from behind me. It was like a whisper. More than just one. Many whispers hissed and flitted through the air and yet nobody was there. Nothing they said I could discern although I could hear them clearly from all around me.

An eerie feeling descended onto my shoulders and seeped in through my skin. The hairs on my arms stood on end at the tingling sensation of these mysterious whispers. The only thing I could fathom was that something supernatural was going on here. It was more than supernatural. Darker. I didn't like it.

I did a slow turn and noticed the horses were getting fidgety by the stream. They stamped the ground in agitation of the unknown. They too knew something weird was happening. I guess they have that sense.

Abruptly, the whispers stopped.

The frown on my face deepened as the jungle plunged into an unnatural silence. The birds had gone on hiatus. The wind had ceased to exist. Even the bugs had hightailed it out of there. A shiver rose up my spine, producing a icy mist as I let out a short breath.

Had that been a ghost sense?

An explosive hiss sounded behind me; before I could turn to see the incoming danger, something hit me from behind. The surprise drove me off my feet and into the cold stream. It was the sudden sharp and acute pain in my shoulder that wrangled a cry of pain out of me. It felt like four spikes had been driven into my muscles and were trying to yank off a chunk of me.

"Argh! Get off!" I growled as I used my free arm to grab at the thing still on my back. My fingers gripped a wad of soft fur. With as much strength I could muster while drowning in a stream and whatever was on me ate at my shoulder, I threw the thing off me and over my head. It gave a vicious, short growl before landing in the water with a splash.

Mind racing a mile a minute, I struggled to my feet in the stream as my attacker did the same. We stood unmoving for a split second as I caught a good look at the thing. It was some kind of wild cat. It had similar spots of a jaguar, but it was way too small to be one. It was more around the size of a big house cat...a big angry house cat.

Something beyond evil was caught in its narrowed, black eyes. A hissing snarl was constantly being played from its fanged mouth. While it looked small, I knew the cat packed a punch. It had already taken a bite out of my shoulder which now throbbed in agony and was coated in blood. I bet it thought I was tasty, and I wouldn't be surprised if it came back for the rest of delicious ol' me.

The cat gave another sadistic hiss before pouncing. With a yelp of alarm, I threw myself to the side and dodged the attack by hardly an inch. Boy, that thing was fast!

Quickly, my eyes scanned the area for some kind of weapon or something to use for protection. I lunged for a thick stick by my side and rolled onto my back just as the little beast came at me. I used the stick to block the cat from rearranging my face with its teeth and claws. For a second all I could do was stare wide eyed at the animal as it snarled and clawed desperately for my face.

"No thanks. I do not want to become kitty chow today," I grumbled before lifting a leg under the cat's chest and kicking it off me. The cat was light weight, so it got pretty far before landing awkwardly on its side.

We both scrambled to our feet and proceeded to carefully circle each other. My shoulder where the cat bit me pulsated with discomfort, but my brain ignored the pain signals with the help of adrenaline and a little technique of mind over matter. I focused on the beast in front of me and the stick clutched in my hands.

Without opening its mouth or moving its lips, the cat snarled at me in a female voice, "You do not belong here! Leave! Leave before the demons come!"

"You think I want to be here? Trust me, I'd leave if I could, lady," I said. "What is it that you want? Why are you attacking me? Does this have anything to do with Vlad Plasmius?"

So she was a spirit. She was nothing like the calm and wise fox spirit in Tokyo, that was for sure; nonetheless, I found it my duty to understand what this spirit wanted from me.

The cat took a step toward me, striking with a paw full of sharp claws that could probably shred my skin like it was paper. I jumped back in avoidance with merely an inch to spare. She gave me another one of her explosive and angry hisses before yelling, "The darkness comes! It consumes! Leave!"

"Whoa! Calm down!" I shouted back only because her actions were freaking me out. "I'm here to help, okay? And how can I leave when you're preparing to chomp my head off? There is this thing called anger management. You certainly need it!"

"Leave!" was all she seemed to be able to say as she attacked me again and again. Somehow, I managed to dodge each lunge and assault. She was so upset that the word was the only thing she could comprehend. It was like she was a broken record as she aguishly screamed the word in a frenzy.

"Leave! Leave! Leave!"

Her desperate, distraught scream frightened me. I'd never come across such a distressed spirit before. I felt like this wasn't how the spirit normally was. Something had made her this way. I didn't know what it could be that would make a spirit snap, but I guess it had to be bad. Worse than Vlad. And anything worse than Vlad was going to be a pain in the butt to defeat. It was going to be more than a pain in the butt. I had the chance of getting killed. And that was no laughing matter.

I did not like this. I did not like this at all!

A/N: Woo! Fun stuff. I know squat about horses, so hopefully I didn't suck at the beginning there. If any of you know how to ride and found something wrong, please tell me. I try to research these things the best I can, but there's only so much you can do by reading and learning to ride at camp one week when I was 10.

Anyways, I have the next chapter almost finished so I'll be updating next weekend for sure this time. Thanks for all your reviews! I'll try to answer 'em if I get the time! See you readers next week!