I've had this half-written for awhile now. Sorry. School happened.

-Phanny

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Okay, ow!" Danny jerked his arm out of Sam's grasp. Lancer had given her some odd smelling mixture that was supposedly a disinfectant. Danny glared at it and then at the cuts on his arms, the ones that had been festering for days. He knew it wouldn't be easy to clean them up, but that burning sensation that ran through his arm was just too unbearable.

"Quit whining," Sam told him, only half playfully, "these'll get so bad we'll have to cut your arm off. And your cheek - which I will be getting to next." She began dabbing at his arm again, and in an effort to control himself, Danny gritted his teeth. He only squirmed a little this time.

Sam and Tucker had told him what he wanted to know - what had happened in the short time that he was unconscious the night before. Tucker said nothing much had gone on - he had passed out, and hit his head on a large stone on the way down. Lancer had been one of the few villagers willing to approach him at first, and had offered to help. Obviously the other villagers trusted Lancer enough to believe that he could keep them safe if Danny decided to "attack," and wandered over to inspect him. Nothing too eventful, and Danny actually felt a little put out that nothing more interesting had occurred.

Sam eventually finished with Danny's hands and face, finally bandaging them up as they should have been when he first got the scratches. Sam had wandered off to find Tucker, who seemed to be flirting with one of the village girls. Danny looked around at the villagers - now that it was daylight, he could get full view of the clearing they had found shelter in.

Everything was so…green. The shady trees, the damp moss on some of the rocks, the bushes and thickets scattered around, acting as a barrier from the outside world. It was almost as if this clearing was made with the intention of people living there. Far off, Danny could hear the trickling of water, and whispering.

Wait a minute…

Danny turned his head to find a group of kids - some around his age, some younger - whispering, every once in awhile pointing in his direction. Danny dismissed it as mindless gossip, but felt slightly offended anyway. Well, he was rather odd looking…

"You need to do it," Emory told another girl, "I dared you, you have to."

"I-I don't want to," Alice stuttered, nervously tucking a lock of unruly brown hair behind her ear, "what if he…bites me or something?"

Emory shook his head and frowned, "chicken."

"I'm not chicken!" Alice whispered harshly, "you want it so much, you do it!"

"I told you to!"

"I don't care!"

"Just go, or I'll tell everyone you were too chicken to do it."

Alice paused. Everyone would believe Emory - she would never live humiliation like that down. She looked at the winged boy across the clearing, and then back at Emory.

"Fine…"

"Hmph, I thought so," Emory said triumphantly. "Go on."

Alice hesitated. Emory pushed her, and she couldn't stop herself from taking more and more small, soft steps towards the boy, who sat with his back to her. Oh, she couldn't believe what she was doing…

When she got close enough, she reached out her hand, gently took hold of one of the shiny, ebony feathers, and tugged.

"Hey-!" The boy turned on her, his expression more annoyed than angry. His deep blue eyes stung her as they stared at the huge black feather she held in her hand. "What was that for?"

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry he dared me to do it, I…" tears pricked at Alice's eyes as she continued to apologize.

The boy stuttered nervously, not knowing what to do with a crying child, "uhm, well…you…you don't have to cry, I just…why did you do that?"

"Emory dared me," Alice muttered again, "I'm really sorry…he's just…he's always mean to me unless I take his dares. He calls me a chicken."

"Well…that kinda hurt, so…don't do it again. You can keep the feather, I guess…I don't really need it anymore."

"Yeah…" Alice twirled the dark feather in her hands, smiling a little, "I guess I can tell everyone I got an angel feather!"

"I'm not an angel," the boy corrected her.

"Then what are you?" Alice asked.

"I…I don't know."

"Well, I think you're an angel, because angels have wings. Usually white ones, though, at least in the pictures - but that doesn't mean you're not an angel."

The boy looked lost in thought, so Alice decided to leave him alone. She was so happy - she got an angel feather, and he wasn't mean or anything like Emory said he would be.

She looked back for one second, and she could've sworn that she saw the angel smile for a second.

"An angel, huh?" A small smile played on Sam's face, "how cute."

"Yeah, cute," Danny said, distracted, "I'm not an angel. So far people have called me an angel, a demon, and an experiment. I just wanted to get away from Vlad, I didn't really think this trip would make me think so much. Sam…we get to Amity Park, and then what?"

Sam let out a long sigh, and she rested her head in her hands.

"And then what…I'm the idea girl around here and I never asked myself that question…and then what. I don't know."

Not much Tucker or Noni. They'll get some spotlight later on.