Author's Note

I don't own Wreck-it Ralph

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and Favorited and followed my story! Believe me, everything helps me to stay motivated and updating regularly. I'm honestly not sure how to end this, but if anyone has any ideas, please speak up!

Chapter 11: You Hate Water, I Hate Heights

Moon (POV)

To me, this was the dumbest idea I had ever heard of. Vanellope knew about this secret Sprite swimming hole, a stream running into it in such a way that it formed a waterfall. She had gotten our little friend group together to splash around and look for cool things like these chocolates that were shaped like shells and other stuff.

Ralph, Cola, and Vanellope were currently having a splashing match in the shallows, Sun was in his feline form, swimming around in the deeper water, and Felix and Calhoun were trying there hand at fishing for the chocolate fish that lived in the Sprite watering hole. They had these wrappers on them that made them look like real fish, and while I was tempted to reach in and grab one, there was a problem.

I hate water. Not water so much itself, but just swimming in general. Flying gives me a sense of weightlessness, allowing me to move easily and swiftly all around.

In the water, or any liquid really, I could only go up to escape, I have to push more to get anywhere, I couldn't breath when I need to, and my feathers get soaked and I can't fly. My claws were digging deep trenches in the cake ground under me, inadvertently revealing just how stressed I was. Ralph had climbed out, taking a break from the liquid death trap, I assume.

"Are you gonna join us or what, Metal-eyes?" Vanellope calls cheekily, splashing in my direction. I flinch away from the wet droplets, narrowing my eyes.

"My eyes are silver. They aren't like regular metal." I turn my back, curling my tail around my paws. Unexpectedly, something grabs my scruff! It hurt, because I was at the point where I was nearly grown out of needing to be picked up in that way period. I found myself being held between Ralph's giant thumb and forefinger. He lumbered back into the soda pool, and I curled my body high above the water.

"Ralph! Put me back!" I squeal, thrashing uselessly in his grip. On the other side of the pool, Calhoun calls out,

"Come on and enjoy the water, soldier! It's not that bad!"

"Yeah, it's not that bad!" Felix chimed in, pulling hard on his pole as he got a bite. I lay my ears flat against my skull.

"Not helping!" I shout back, right before Ralph plops me next to Vanellope and Cola in the shallows. I stiffen, feeling the cold soda touch the skin beneath my fur for a moment before squeaking and bolting for the nearest bank, not stopping until I've scaled high up into one of the numerous candy cane trees that surround and hide the pool. Everyone is staring at me.

"What?" I ask, irritated and scared.

"Do you have aquaphobia?" calls Calhoun. I blink.

"And that would be?"

"It means your afraid of water. Or in this case, liquids." I shrug.

"I dunno, I just don't do water. I'm used to weightlessness in the air, but in the water. . . " I trail off, shaking out my fur to rid myself of it's dampness. I shift on my perch, flaring my wings to there full length before flapping a few times, big and strong, trying to get rid of the liquid. They seem okay, so I start licking them dry, straightening the feathers for flight.

Everyone has generally gone back to doing what they were doing, and I eventually climb back down from the tree and settle myself on a large jawbreaker not too far from the pool. Gold climbs out and shakes his fur mostly free of water, before ambling over to me, snickering.

"Oh, right, go ahead and laugh it up now, but I will get you back." I snarl, turning my back on him. He hisses and shoves me. Unable to get any sort of traction, I end up slipping off and hitting my muzzle on the ground. I sit up, rubbing at it with a paw animal-style, before turning on him with a snarl. He growls in return, hopping atop the jawbreaker, lips drawn back from his sharp teeth.

I return it, unsheathing my claws, snarling and hissing, ears laid flat. For several tense moments, we stand rigid, fur raised along our spines, claws unsheathed and teeth shown, our eyes hardening into stern sets of harsh silver and unrelenting gold. Something moves out of the corner of my eye, and I turn towards it immediately, growling with a loud CLICK of my snapping jaws.

It's Vanellope; she glitches away in fear, and I begin to return to my senses, right when Gold tackles me. From there, it's an all out whirl of teeth, claws, fists, and kicks as we roll across the ground in a frenzy. We bite and claw and hit, and all I can think is, 'Intruder, intruder! Tear him up, drive him out, defend my home.' fur and feathers were flying, and small droplets of blood were scattered across the ground.

Then, a sound. Like a clap, but louder, echoing, and I'm suddenly torn away from the fight. I'm being held by the scruff, but I continue to snarl, reaching out long, curved claws towards my competitor. Then, I'm roughly shaken, rattled down to my core, and when it stops, I feel dizzy and sick to my stomach, hanging limp like a rag-doll.

When I finally come to my senses and get control of my wild instincts, I'm better able to understand what happened. The past few minutes are a blur of fur and teeth and claws, no real thoughts on what I was doing. Gold, by this time, has been put down, and he crouches low. I'm glad to see that he has only a few nicks on him, that in my instinct-driven fighting I'd been unable to actually hurt him.

When I'm dropped on the ground, I stumble and half-fall, too dizzy to remain standing. Felix has, by this time, fixed Gold up with a few whacks of his hammer, and only hesitates a moment before approaching me. I raise my head slowly, willing the dizziness to go away.

"I'm fine, instincts under control. Although shaking me wasn't necessary!" I try to glare up at Ralph, or . . . one of him. I let my head plop down with a groan. Why me? Why do I always get the short end of the stick? 'Because your basically a big sister to three little kids and you have to be responsible.' my 'good' side replies. I hiss under my breath, starting to feel my injuries.

Even after Felix heals them up, I still feel disoriented, dizzy, and sick to my stomach. Plus I'm seeing double, which is just great. "Why'd you have to shake my so hard, Ralph?" I groan, trying to rise to my feet, but with the way the ground is shifting, I can't keep my balance, even on all fours and half collapse again.

"I didn't, though." he sounds concerned and perplexed.

"Whoops." mutters Gold, but the slight, natural, deepening and growl in his voice is gone, so he must be human again. No wait, hang on. . . it is there. I turn my head slightly, another wave of dizziness making the ground jump underneath me.

"What?" I ask.

"Well, I don't really know, but I might have you gotten you with my dewclaws. Sorry." I groan. Of course!

"I have this special venom in my dewclaws, the thumb-like part of a cats paw. It's exact properties change as my emotions change. I guess, driven by instinct as I was, it disabled my 'opponent'." he explains. I hear something hit something else, and a sharp squeak.

"Hey!" Gold snaps. I ignore them. Just earlier today, I had leapt off of Diet Cola Mountain and glided right into the end of the Random Roster Race. Now, I had gotten into a serious scrap with my bro' and am now unable to do anything. These thoughts came to me more distantly, as I curled up slightly, searching for comfort. Something nudged me, and I hissed a little.

Everything was blurry, instead of seeing double, and Felix was crouched over me, feeling my head. "I think that's enough for one day, miss. Let's get you back to the castle." I can't really answer other than a squeak of surprise as Ralph scoops me up into his large arms. Vanellope has glitched onto his shoulder, I think, but between the dizziness, blurriness, and feeling like I'm gonna throw up, I can't really focus on anything.

I'm pretty sure we've gotten close to the castle when my sick stomach gets worse. "Ralph, c-can we t-take a br-break? I f-feel l-like I'm gonna throw up." Ralph pauses, a look flicking across his face, but I can't tell what.

"Sure, kiddo." he takes a seat on a jawbreaker on the side of the path. I raise my head, rather feebly though, to try and see where we are, but I can't tell. I drop my head back down, hissing a little in pain from the throbbing headache that suddenly appears. Why me?

Sun (POV)

When we had gotten Crescent tucked into bed, with Felix watching over her - he refused to leave her alone, like a doting parent - and Tamora had to go take care of something in her game, leaving me, Ralph, Vanillope and Cola to figure out something fun to do. Over the last week, we had stuck to Sugar Rush, partly because it was big enough to satisfy Crescent's need to explore, and partially because Cola couldn't leave the game.

We were mostly just puttering around the throne room, Cola pestering Ralph and Vanellope with questions. I'd wandered over onto a balcony, being careful not to look down. I began to think about the little friend group me and Sis had gotten ourselves caught up in. With a small jolt, I realized that it was like a family.

Tamora was like the tough-guy mom, Felix the kind and ever worried doting dad, Ralph was like an older brother or uncle, Crescent fit into the second-oldest sibling place, Vanillope and Cola were like the older twin brother and sister pair, and I was the youngest brother. Even though Felix and Tamora seemed to have the mom/dad rolls swapped, we were becoming a family none-the-less.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when a big hand nudges me. I jump a little, turning to see Ralph, with Vanillope and Cola perched on his shoulders, standing on the balcony next to me.

"Hows the weather on the mountain, explorers Cola and Vanillope?" I joke.

"Stormy with a chance of glitching." replies Cola, grimacing as a glitch traveled unbidden through his form. "I still don't get how you can do this all the time, sis! It feels so weird!" he exclaims, waving his arms around for emphasis, nearly whacking Ralph in the face. I roll my eyes, turning back to the view. Something suddenly hits me on the back. I stumble forward and end up hitting the bars with my chest, getting a good, long look on the ground.

I freeze, my eyes widening, mouth agape, fur raised along my neck, claws digging deep into the railing. The ground seems to stretch farther and farther away from me. I cannot move, cannot think, can't do anything. I close my eyes tightly. It feels like my fear is a giant hand squeezing the air from my lungs. Then, I'm suddenly drenched! My eyes snap open as I stumble back, only to slip.

I'm held up by a big hand; I turn to see Ralph, Vanillope and Cola, wearing near-identical looks of concern. We're in a bathroom; I'm in a tub, with the shower-head going on me. I turn it off, resisting the urge to shake out my fur. Vanillope tosses a towel on me. With a grunt, I start drying off my fur.

"What happened?" I look up.

"Whaddya mean?" I reply, scrubbing my arms with the towel.

"Well, the instant you looked over the edge, you froze. You didn't respond or anything. Ralph even shook you a little! What happened? Did you see a ghost?" I send a Vanillope a small glare.

"No, I did't see a ghost."

"Then what did happen, Sir Pelt-icis?" asks Ralph jokingly.

"I dunno, General Egg-breath." I return sharply. Vanillope bursts out laughing.

"I gotta remember that one!"

"Oh, sure, laugh it up President Fart-feathers!" exclaims Ralph, trying to grab the glitching, teleporting girl. While they acted like lunatics in the bathroom, I slipped out. I padded for the exit, only to be stopped by Cola.

"Are you afraid of heights?" he asks. I blink. Was it that obvious? Well, duh, it must be. I nod slowly.

"Don't tell anyone else. I don't wanna be pranked on something like this." Cola nods seriously. After a moment, I scoop him up so he's perched on my back. With a laughs and jokes, we leave the castle and start looking for something to do.

Well, I covered some fear-factor stuff. At this point, I'm just doing little fluffy writings, partially because it's cute, and partially because I'm not entirely sure how to end this fic. If you have any ideas for conflict of whatever, just let me know. Thanks, and please review.

~Keep Calm and Soar On - Moon ad Sun~