Dragon Lady: All right. Next chapter coming right up. I'm moving pretty fast on this again. ^^;;

Ken: That's good.

Dragon Lady: Good news. We reached the halfway mark last chapter! ^_^

Ken: Which means only about ten more chapters for dl to go. ^^;;;

Dragon Lady: -_-;;;

Ken: You brought it on yourself.

Dragon Lady: Yeah, yeah. I know. You don't have to keep reminding me. ^^;;;

Ken: But I like reminding you.

Dragon Lady: Anyway, this chapter and the next one are two of my favorites out of the whole of the 10th Kingdom. ^_^

Ken: So Dl's going to let you go read now. Before she babbles too much.

Dragon Lady: ^^;;;;

Ken: Remember to review!

Dragon Lady: ^_^

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The 10th Kingdom

Adapted By: DigimonDragonLady

The end of Ken's hair flopped at Osamu's feet as Daisuke disappeared up into the giant tree. Osamu wasn't quite sure how they were going to get out of that place. They certainly couldn't climb back down Ken's hair. He glanced at the axe he held in his hands. Maybe he should have had Daisuke carry it up with him and then axe off Ken's hair when he got up there and tie the ends to a bedpost or something.

Osamu frowned and gauged the height of the tree. He probably couldn't throw the axe that high, and Ken definitely wouldn't appreciate it if someone else tried to climb up his hair. He'd wait to see if they'd need his help.

Then he heard something behind him. He turned around quickly.

A tall, pale man carrying an evil looking crossbow was walking toward the tree house. Even though he had never seen him, Osamu knew that this had to be the Huntsman.

He muttered a string of curses under his breath that would have made a sailor blush and hid himself behind the nearest tree. He gripped the axe tightly in his hands. He knew he had to do something now, but he wasn't sure of what he could do. All the plans he had come up with so far had been dismal failures.

So he bit his lower lip and waited.

* * *

"Careful you don't trip over your hair," Daisuke cautioned.

Ken was slowly picking his way down the stairs and Daisuke was helping him. This hair situation had gotten way out of control. If he'd only had his normal haircut, he would have been out of this tree house and far away already. Possibly on his way home.

He had reached the carcasses on the first floor when the door opened suddenly. The Huntsman came in and frowned in surprise at the sight of Daisuke. Daisuke immediately jumped in front of Ken, but over his shoulder he could see Osamu running up behind the Huntsman.

His brother had an axe.

"Stay back, Ken," Daisuke shouted. Apparently Daisuke had spotted Osamu as well, and was trying for a diversion.

But it didn't work. The Huntsman turned just as his brother reached him. He kicked the door shut quickly, trapping Osamu's body half in and half out.

Osamu was flailing around with the axe, but the Huntsman somehow managed to grab his arm. Daisuke dived at both of them, knocking the Huntsman back against one of the tables. Carcasses fell everywhere. Daisuke slid in the blood on the floor, but somehow managed to retain his grip.

Knives scattered.

Ken was frozen. Unsure of what to do. If he picked up one of the knives in an attempt to help, he might get Daisuke instead of the Huntsman.

The Huntsman grabbed Daisuke's throat with one hand and one of the knives with the other. Daisuke struggled madly, yanking on the Huntsman's wrist to try and free himself. Twisting desperately to escape his grasp.

"Ken!" Daisuke shouted. "Get the axe!"

That stopped his indecision. He ran to the door where Osamu was stuck, and removed the axe gently from his hand.

"Chop his head off!" Daisuke shouted at him. "Stick it in his back -- I don't care what you do! Anything!"

Ken raised the axe, and then hesitated. He'd never killed anyone before. He wasn't sure that he could do it.

"Do it!" Daisuke yelled at him, still struggling with the Huntsman.

Ken closed his eyes tightly and brought the axe down as hard as he could. He heard a thunk, and then he opened his eyes again. He'd completely missed the Huntsman, and hit the wooden table on which they were wrestling instead, chopping it cleanly in half. Daisuke and the Huntsman had fallen backwards onto the floor. The knife moved away from Daisuke's throat and the Huntsman started screaming.

It took Ken a moment to realize what had happened. The Huntsman had fallen back onto one of his iron traps. It had closed on his leg. There was a lot of blood, but he was still waving the knife.

Daisuke picked up a nearby piece of wood and hit the Huntsman over the head with it. He fell back, unconscious.

Ken let out a sigh of relief. Daisuke wiped off his forehead. They looked at each other and Ken knew that if either of them had acted a moment later than they had, one of them would be dead.

"Open this door!" Osamu demanded, breaking into Ken's thoughts. "I'm completely squashed."

Ken and Daisuke hurried over to the door and managed to squeeze it open. Ken didn't know how Osamu could have stood it. The thing was heavy. When they'd gotten it open Osamu stumbled in, clutching his ribs.

"What is this place?" Osamu asked curiously, looking around.

"A very bad place," Daisuke answered with a slight shudder. "Come on. Let's go."

"Wait. We can't leave him like that," Ken said. He was looking at the Huntsman.

"You're right," Daisuke agreed. "Here. Give me the axe. I'll do it."

Ken was appalled. "No! We can't kill him."

"Of course we can," Daisuke replied, calmly and logically. "He'd kill us."

"That's not the point!" Ken protested. "He's helpless."

"Exactly why we should kill him now." Daisuke raised the axe over his head and started to bring it down.

"Daisuke, no!"

"But he'll come after us."

"I don't care," Ken said. "We're not going to kill him, and that's final."

Ken couldn't stand it. The Huntsman might not be an innocent man, but he could no longer defend himself. He knew that from all he had been taught, all that was within his culture and his life, that killing a defenseless man was very, very wrong.

After a moment of glaring at each other, Daisuke sighed. He turned away from the Huntsman. He raised his dark eyes to look at Ken. Ken saw something, a look on his face that he had never seen before. Something reflected deep within the melted chocolaty brown eyes. A sorrow, a worry.

"You'll live to regret this moment," he warned Ken sadly.

* * *

Finally, a break in the trees. Daisuke grinned. It had taken them half a day longer than he had thought it would. But the three of them had done it. They had stayed strong together, just like the old woman's sticks.

Osamu had retrieved Yamato, though it had taken them the better part of an hour to uncover him from the ground, and Ken's hair was back to its usual length. For the moment, life looked good.

"It's the end of the damned forest," Osamu said in amazement. He turned to look at Daisuke. "I thought you said it was a thousand miles."

"And it is," Daisuke agreed. "A thousand miles long. But not very wide."

Ken looked positively stunned. He looked good stunned. Of course, in Daisuke's opinion, he looked good all the time. He followed Daisuke out of the trees and stopped.

Ahead was a large spreading valley and sunny open pasture land. It was beautiful after the perpetual dark and gloom of the forest. Daisuke wanted to stretch toward the sun.

Then he frowned. There was something unusual parked by the crossroads.

"I don't believe it," Osamu said.

"It's Iori's wagon!" Ken exclaimed. His face breaking out into the first real smile in days. Daisuke was surprised at how much more beautiful Ken could look with that heart stopping smile.

Ken and Osamu broke into a run, Osamu leaving Prince behind on his little cart for the first time in days. Daisuke glanced at Yamato, very tempted to leave him behind as well, but knowing that Ken would never forgive him for it if he did.

The man was much too tenderhearted for his own good.

Daisuke reluctantly grabbed the heavy rope and gave Yamato a tug. The dog was too damn heavy. Daisuke had to struggle to keep up with Osamu and Ken.

"What if he won't give the mirror back to us?" Ken was asking nervously.

"Then we club him to death," Osamu said. "This is not a matter of debate. We're going home. And that's final."

Daisuke slowed a little. The time of reckoning was finally here. He had known in his mind that Ken would leave him, but in his heart, he had been hoping that his love would stay. That he could win him over before they found the mirror. Now he would have to show Osamu and Ken how to turn on the mirror, and they'd leave him.

Daisuke wasn't sure he could live without Ken. And he'd only known him for a few days.

Osamu and Ken had already gotten to the wagon. It was smaller up close. The dwarf was sitting in it, brewing himself a cup of tea.

"Hey, Iori," Osamu greeted him. "Remember me?"

"Osamu!" The dwarf leaned towards them, looking the company over reflectively, his gaze dwelling on Osamu. "You got out of prison." He frowned thoughtfully. "How…unlikely."

And, apparently, he had known Osamu well. Daisuke caught up to them and stood beside the wagon. He stared continuously at Ken, trying to memorize everything about him.

"Where's our mirror?" Osamu asked.

"Mirror?" Iori said, clearly puzzled.

"It belongs to us," Ken said.

"Is it valuable then?" Iori asked curiously.

"No, its completely worthless." Ken was such a terrible liar. Daisuke smiled fondly. He'd even miss that about him.

"You've come an awfully long way," Iori commented, "for a worthless mirror."

Ken frowned. Daisuke recognized that look too. It was his "decision" look. He knew every detail about Ken. He had never known anyone else so well before. Not even his own family.

"It's a magic mirror," Ken told him quickly. "We traveled here through it. We've been trapped in this world ever since."

"Ken," Osamu protested warningly.

"All we want to do is go home," Ken said. "We wouldn't take it. We'll just use it to go home and then you can do whatever you want with it."

The way Ken said "home" made it sound as if his heart was there. If he left, Daisuke's would be too.

"I'm extremely moved by what you say," Iori said.

"Then please let us go home," Ken begged.

"But I don't have it anymore."

Daisuke let out a small breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He didn't want to look too pleased about this. But Ken didn't even notice him. Instead, he ran around to the back of the miniature wagon. He looked panicked. Osamu looked defeated.

"I'm afraid I swapped it with someone in the village down the road there, not half an hour ago," Iori said, sounding apologetic.

"Swapped it?" Osamu demanded. "Swapped it for what?!"

Iori looked behind him. Ken had already found the trade. A small lamb stood in the back of the wagon. It had a bright pink bow tied around its neck. It opened its mouth and bleated.

Daisuke felt a shudder run through him. He clenched his fists at his sides. Sheep and lambs were the greatest temptation of all. He stepped away from the wagon to clear his head.

"Daisuke, my wolf, do you think you can simply ignore me?" It was the Queen's voice.

Daisuke looked down at a puddle on the ground and saw her face reflected in the water. "I've changed," he said. "I'm no longer under your influence. You can't touch me now."

"Oh really?" the Queen asked, then laughed.

Daisuke didn't like the sound of that laugh at all. In its cold depths it held his future and the future of everyone he loved. That scared him.

"It's a full moon tonight," the Queen informed him softly. "Your blood is already hot. You are a wolf. What will you do when a wild moon calls to you? What will you do to your new friends?"

Daisuke threw a rock at the puddle and watched the Queen's image swirl and vanish with the ripples. He hurried forward and waited for Osamu and Ken.

What would he do? For the first time since he had met Ken, Daisuke wished that they'd found the mirror and that the brothers were on their way home. He didn't want to betray them. He didn't want to hurt anyone, least of all Ken.

And he wasn't sure that he could stop himself.

* * *

Daisuke felt himself walking slower and slower.

The forest had given way to bright and gentle pasture lands. A way up the hill, someone had built a log fence that rose waist-high. White cottages with thatched roofs dotted the countryside. A little white sign up ahead of them said, LITTLE LAMB VILLAGE 3 MILES

"That's it," Osamu commented unnecessarily. "That's the place."

"I don't think we should go into this village," Daisuke said nervously. He didn't know how to properly convey his worry to them. Something just felt very wrong.

Ken didn't even turn around. "But Iori said the mirror is in there."

Daisuke bounded in front of him, hoping he'd understand. "Well, a wolf goes by his instincts, and I don't like it."

Ken looked over his shoulder. Daisuke followed his gaze. There was a scarecrow in one of the fields, only it had a ram's skull on top, and fur carcasses below. Similar scarecrows -- or scarewolves to be more accurate -- dotted the landscape.

Several farmers stopped in their work, pitchforks gripped tightly in their hands, watching as the trio and solid little Prince Yamato passed.

If Ken didn't understand those looks, he didn't understand anything at all. "This is farming land," Daisuke said. "And farmers don't like wolfies, no siree. Let's stop for breakfast and think about what to do."

"You just had breakfast, Daisuke." Ken walked past him. He sounded amused.

Daisuke had had enough. "Well maybe I want another breakfast. What are you, my mother? Do you tell me when I can eat or not? Why don't you just draw up a nice long list of the things I can and can't do!"

Oops. He hadn't meant to say that at all. The full moon was already wearing on his nerves. He cursed it. He could feel the edge.

Osamu stopped walking and narrowed his eyes at him. "Hey, I know what you can't do. You can't talk to my brother like that."

Ken gripped his brother's arm and shook his head. Then he turned his attention back to Daisuke. "We're going into the village," Ken told him. "End of discussion. You can do what you like."

Osamu and Ken continued on. Daisuke glanced around him. Farmers, scarewolves, sheep. He closed his eyes and then sighed. Nowhere around here would really be safe for him. He might as well stick with Ken and Osamu.

Daisuke walked after them, feeling dejected. The sound of wheels on Yamato's cart pulled him forward. Ken would hate him now. He'd think he was crazy. And what would he do when night fell?

Daisuke shuddered. He needed Ken. He needed him on his side now.

He had to tell him what was going on.

He picked a small bouquet of wildflowers and bounded to catch up with him. When Daisuke reached Ken, he thrust them under his nose. Ken blinked at him in surprise.

"Ken, please forgive me," Daisuke begged. "I didn't mean to seem so rude. Its just my cycle coming on. Once a month I get very irrational and angry, and I want to pick a fight with anyone who comes near me."

Ken nodded.

This was where he asked for his help. He sure hoped Ken understood. "I'll be perfectly fine just as long as you keep me away from temptation."

They crested a hill and Daisuke groaned. Dammit. On the other side were meadows filled with flocks of sheep. Pretty, lovely, curly, sheet all with pretty pink bows.

"Ohhhhh," Daisuke said with a very soft moan.

Shepherdesses carried their crooks as they skipped after their flocks. It felt as if they were moving in slow motion. Delectable, delicious, delightful.

Oh, he wasn't going to survive this.

"Look at all those sheep," he mumbled. "Trollops. It shouldn't be allowed."

Ken was watching him quizzically.

One of the shepherdesses saw him look at them. She giggled at him. Her blouse was straining at her chest, and she had the most lovely honey colored eyes, the most beautiful skin. And her soft chestnut brown hair…

She came toward them with a smile on her stunning face. "Mornin'," she greeted them, looking at Daisuke. "My name's Hikari Peep. I'm a shepherdess."

"No question about it," Daisuke agreed in a daze.

The other shepherdesses apparently saw her, and followed. They climbed over a nearby gate so that they could see him.

"My, what very strong arms you've got," Hikari Peep said. "If my door wasn't locked, I'd be scared you'd come into my house and huff and puff and blow all my clothes off." The other shepherdesses giggled when she said this.

"Where do you live, Hikari?" Daisuke asked.

"All right, that's it. Come on, we're going." Ken grabbed his arm and pulled Daisuke away. Apparently his amusement had left him. Ken shot the Hikari girl a glare as they left, and she blinked back at him innocently.

Daisuke looked at the shepherdess behind him and longed for the missed opportunity. But part of him -- the sane part -- was glad that Ken had pulled him away.

They went around a corner and found themselves inside Little Lamb Village. It was made up of white cottages and looked entirely too wholesome. The Peeps seemed to own everything. Daisuke saw signs that listed Bill Peep as a butcher, Gordon Peep as a grocer, and Felicity Peep as a florist before he stopped reading signs.

People were leading sheep around on leashes as if they were dogs. Daisuke bit his lower lip, trying to restrain himself. Letting sheep loose in a village like that should have been a crime. Couldn't they see the temptation it caused? It just wasn't healthy.

Ken kept a firm grip on his arm, not that Daisuke minded too terribly much. Ken was smiling at people, returning their cheery little greetings. Such friendliness wasn't healthy either. Such niceness should be outlawed.

All these sheep were obscene.

Daisuke made himself focus on a banner overhead that announced the Annual Little Lamb Village Competition.

For what? He wondered. Tastiest sheep?

Ken managed to drag him to the center of the village. There were tables set up, but Daisuke didn't know why. Instead, he focused on the small well. Someone had built a roof over it, and there was a bar for holding a rope to help lower buckets.

Beside the well was the only strange-looking person in the entire village. He had straw like blond hair hidden underneath a ridiculous looking hat, and from the glazed look in his sky blue eyes he didn't appear to be all there.

"Is there someone in charge around here?" Osamu asked. He pulled Yamato up close behind him.

"I am the village idiot, and I am in charge of the wishing well," the man told them.

Osamu rolled his eyes. "What, are we carrying magnets or something? How do we attract these people?"

If Daisuke had been feeling better, he might actually have tried to answer that.

"Nice dog you got there," the village idiot said, petting the golden Prince Yamato on the head. "He reminds me of someone."

At that moment, several villagers went by. They were wheeling a cart with a white cloak in it that had to be twenty feet long. It was made of pure lambs wool. Daisuke could smell it. He felt an urge to start salivating, but managed to ignore it.

"What's that for?" Osamu asked curiously.

"The village's gift for Prince Yamato," the village idiot answered. "Its to be his coronation cloak, made out of the finest lambs wool."

Osamu looked down at the golden dog. "Well, gee, I hope he likes it."

"Aren't you going to make a wish?" the idiot asked. "It's very bad luck to pass without making a wish."

Ken shrugged and pulled out several coins, handing them to Daisuke and Osamu. They all walked up to the well and tossed their coins in at the same time. After a moment, they heard them land, making a small dull clump and tinkling sound. They looked at the idiot in confusion.

"It don't work," he said.

All three of them groaned.

"It used to be a real magic wishing well, and folks traveled from all over the kingdoms to have things blessed in it. But it's all dried up now. It hasn't flowed in years. I have made it my life's work --"

"As fascinating as your story is," Osamu interrupted, rolling his eyes, "what we're really interested in is a mirror."

Daisuke was glad that Osamu had interrupted because Daisuke was about to make the village idiot the former village idiot. On good days, Daisuke didn't suffer fools gladly. And this was not a good day.

"The mirror," Osamu was saying, "is about so big and black. We were told someone in this village bought it off Iori when he passed through."

The village idiot nodded like he was thinking about it. "I have made it my life's work to wait by this well until it fills up again. What do you think of that?" he grinned stupidly. It seemed as if he hadn't heard Osamu at all.

Daisuke clenched his fists and Osamu turned to face him. "This isn't doing us any good," he sighed. "This man is a complete idiot."

The village idiot straightened. "If only," he told them. "Now my father, he was a complete idiot. I'm still a half-wit."

Daisuke groaned.

* * *

They'd searched all afternoon and found no one who'd seen the mirror. Ken was feeling tired and very discouraged. His brother was reduced to talking to the golden Yamato. And Daisuke -- well, Daisuke was acting strange.

Ken had taken it upon himself to find a place to sleep that night. No one in the village seemed to have any rooms. The annual competition, whatever it was, seemed to have filled up the village. Finally, he met Fidelity, one of the farm wives, and Fidelity claimed to have somewhere for them.

Fidelity lead them to a small barn. Daisuke's eyes seemed to glow. Ken wasn't sure he liked that. Fidelity didn't seem to notice.

"You can stay here if you like," Fidelity said. "Might not be what your used to, but just about everywhere else is full up at this time of year."

"It smells," Osamu commented.

Ken shot him a glare. Osamu was never satisfied. They'd stayed in worse places on this trip.

"It's wonderful," Ken said to the woman. "Thank you."

Fidelity nodded. She was an amazingly cheerful person. She was about to leave when Ken said, "Do you happen to know if anyone's bought a mirror from a traveling trader recently?"

"You'll want to talk to the local judge. He bought a load of things off that dwarf to use as prizes in the competition. You'll find him across the road at the inn. They do lovely food there, too. Well, isn't that the understatement of the year." Fidelity smiled. In fact, she'd been smiling all along. She waved happily at them and closed the barn door.

Ken and Osamu left Daisuke in the barn. The wolf had curled up and demanded that they go away and just leave him alone. Ken was actually worried about him. He kept shooting troubled glances over his shoulder at the barn until it was out of sight once they were inside the Baa-Bar, where Fidelity had suggested they search out the judge. Daisuke was running a terrible temperature, but he wouldn't let Ken get near him, or do anything at all to help him.

The inside of the bar was packed full of people. Chaos abounded. Ken turned toward Osamu and, for the first time, realized that through all the commotion, he'd dragged Prince Yamato with him.

"Are you going everywhere with Prince?" Ken asked.

His brother looked slightly embarrassed. "He's gold. I can' just leave him lying around. Anyway, its good to keep him moving."

Ken raised an eyebrow at him and shook his head in disbelief, but he wasn't going to say anything.

Osamu stopped in front of a sign. "Look," he motioned Ken over. "Here's tomorrow's events."

Ken peered at the information written in chalk on a large blackboard. One listing caught his eye.

11:00 A.M. BEAUTIFUL SHEEP AND SHEPHERDESS COMPETITION.

PRIZE: FULL-LENGTH MIRROR.

He looked up at Osamu. "Our mirror?" he asked. "Let's find the judge quickly so that we can get it back before the competition."

Osamu nodded in agreement.

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Dragon Lady: Hehe. I'm evil. ^_^

Ken: *rolls eyes*

Dragon Lady: Who loved seeing Hikari as Sally Peep? *raises hand* I know I did. *chuckles evilly* ^^;;;;

Ken: ^^;;;;

Dragon Lady: Looks like Ken's got some competition for Daisuke now. ^_~

Ken: That was cruel. =P

Dragon Lady: And some of the characters in this I'm thinking of in Digimon style and some I'm not. If anyone caught the implications about the Gypsy Queen being Miyako and the village idiot being Takeru, then good for you. ^^;;;;

Ken: *laughs* Dl's brother just about killed her when she told him that she cast Takeru as the village idiot.

Dragon Lady: ^^;;;; Takeru's his favorite male character. Of course he's a cannon couple fan. *rolls eyes* He likes Takari. How sad. No imagination what-so-ever.

Ken: Anyway, the next chapter will be up ASAP.

Dragon Lady: Yep. ^_^

Ken: So…review!! ^_^