Special POV. at the end of this chapter! Shoutouts: AnikaandAj, Unknown Writer O.o, lillypad22, Tianna Ryder (welcome to the party and shout out to all my out of U.S.A readers!), Neon shoelaces and Fax, iggsplosives, girlreadsalot,

Chapter 9 Damage Control

Ever get whiplash? Ever have it so bad your neck feels like it's gonna snap? I have. The moment the darkness cleared and light spun before my eyes it felt like my entire body was being thrown forward and yanked back at the same time. Behind me I could feel the others pulling me backwards and I realized that though I might be able to get through that didn't mean they could too.

Light still surrounded us, we were stuck somewhere in between. I gripped Fang's hand tighter, feeling it loosen in my hands until only our fingers latched together in a last stitch effort to cling together. Tension pulled us and suddenly Fang's hand loosened but in that moment I made a blind reach and managed to grab his arm.

I felt Fang's fingers dig into the skin around my wrist and prayed that the others held on too. Up head the light was growing brighter, and though my eyes were closed (I couldn't open them) the light shown through.

My body felt as if it were being ripped apart at the seams. Some force was pulling at me from every direction. I was powerless, caught up in a white storm of nothingness. Space and time meant nothing, I, was nothing, until we reached the brightest light yet and suddenly there was a pop!

I had the sensation of falling, which didn't last long because the next thing I knew I'd smacked into something hard and rough. I bounced back, toppling onto someone lying beside me. I let out a groan hearing the sound amplified around me. Light still penetrated my closed eyes but not nearly as brightly and as I dared open them I saw what looked like sand in front of my face.

Coughing I realized my mouth was full of the stuff and I sat up, wincing as my body registered the pain that it was in. Spitting again I twisted and saw Fang lying on my right, struggling to sit up and once he'd managed turning to look at me with an awed look on his face, it was mixed with pain.

"Ugh, anybody else feel like they've been through a blender?" Iggy asked, sitting up on Nudge's other side. His strawberry blonde hair was standing straight up and he had a hole in his white t-shirt across his side where there was a rough looking scrape. Iggy's hand went to it but sensing my gaze he shook his head. "Nothing bad."

"Report!" I called, forcing my legs to steady beneath me as I stood up. "I'm okay," Angel called, taking Gazzy's hand as he pulled her to his feet and nodded. "Good," Ratchet's deep voice sounded, coming from a few yards away. He was struggling to stand but kept falling sideways. After a moment he just plopped down on his butt and tossed a handful of sand, cursing in aggravation.

"Here," Dylan mumbled, spitting sand out of his mouth just as I had. His sea blue eyes were wide and his shirt was bedraggled but other than that he looked fine.

"Where's Jeb?" Nudge asked and my head immediately snapped to her. She was looking around, having managed to stand up with Iggy's help, and as I followed her gaze I saw that Jeb wasn't with us. And neither was Total or Kovu.

"Where are they?" Gazzy asked, dusting off his shorts. He spread his wings and winced but shook them out and began walking around. I glanced at Fang and he shrugged. Not good.

"I don't think he was able to hold on." Ratchet said, drawing my attention. I looked down at him and he frowned. "It's like he was there one second, and gone the next. When we landed here he wasn't beside me like when we left."

"That explains Kovu and Total. Kovu was holding onto Jeb and Total had Kovu's tail. They're together wherever they are, I hope." I said, shaking my head and gritting my teeth.

Way to go Jeb.

"We can worry about them later. Jeb can look after himself and Kovu and Total are smart. They'll be fine." I said, trying to assure them as well as myself. Fang nodded encouragement and I stood tall. "Okay, first off, is everyone okay? Iggy, I don't like the look of that scrape."

"I just need a bandage out of my pack. Where ever that is." Iggy said, trailing off as he realized it wasn't on his back. "Here it is!" Nudge called and tossed it to Iggy who turned and caught it.

I still didn't see how he managed that, being blind and all.

Iggy fished around in his pack and pulled out a first aid kit. "Nudge can you take this and open it?" Because the plastic was white Iggy could read it and knew what he was looking for. He handed Nudge a small cloth with peroxide already in it and Nudge began cleaning the scrape on his side while Iggy held up his shirt. Meanwhile Angel took the cotton wrap and pulled out how much would be needed. Nudge took the wrap when she was done and wound it around Iggy. Then Angel tapped his hand in warning, he nodded, and Nudge pulled it tight before clipping it in place.

Iggy winced, then put his shirt down and nodded. "Good," I said, looking at everyone else who was fine. "Second, we need to find out where we are."

"And if we actually made it to the other side. How can we tell?" Dylan asked, turning and staring off into the distance where all there was was sand.

Good question, I thought. Spreading my wings I said, "Let's hit the air." My muscles were tired and my wings felt heavy so I took a running start before launching myself into the air. The others followed behind me and Fang flew up on my right while Angel took my left with Nudge right beside her. Iggy flew beside Fang with Gazzy while Dylan flew just below us, Ratchet in his arms.

Below, the desert sand stretched on for miles, and miles, with only outcroppings of rocks and a few sparse cactuses dotting the landscape every so often. "It looks like…." Angel trailed off and glanced at me, her eyes wide. I nodded, my mind already picking out the familiar features.

Doubt seeped into my mind. How could this place look so similar and yet be in another world?

We flew on in silence for a few more minutes, then Gazzy let out a short shout and pointed to the ground. I followed his line of sight and made out a small rise on the ground before a large canyon. "That's BadWater Basin! There's the Hawk Cave!" Nudge cried, beating her wings faster so that she pulled ahead of the rest of us and swept down towards the lip of the canyon.

"Come on!" I called and pulled after her. Nudge reached the bottom first and swept downward before disappearing over the lip of the canyon. That's when we heard the shriek.

I pumped my wings harder and skimmed the ridge preparing to drop down on the ledge and barely having room too before I realized that the way before me was blocked. "Look out!" Fang shouted and I looked up only to have 120 pounds of bird guy land on top of me, sending me toppling towards the edge and then, over.

I let out a surprised yell then righted myself twisting so that I was able to spread my wings and rocket back up. As I neared the lip though the rest of the Flock flew over and made the same mistake until Dylan pulled up saving both himself and Ratchet.

Fang fell past me followed by Gazzy and Angel. By the time they reached us again I'd flown back up beside Dylan and was staring at the sight before me which I wouldn't have believed unless I'd seen it.

Standing on the now two foot ledge, Nudge was holding onto the side of the cave, clutching a root hanging out of the rock wall. This wasn't what surprised us though. Where the opening to the cave had once been there was what looked like black tar dumped over it with concrete mixed in. The entire opening had been sealed shut.

Nudge glanced back at us and then leapt off the small ledge before flying back up to us, her eyes wide and her hands scraped while her face had a few scratches. Nudge clutched her nose which wasn't bleeding and mumbled, "I flew straight into it!"

"Who would do this?" Angel asked, flapping so that she glided forward and pressed her hand against the tar. She pulled it back and made a 'yuck' face.

I shrugged but turned to Iggy when he said, "Maybe someone wanted to stop someone else from going inside?"

"No, it's more than that. It's like, like they wanted to keep us, out." Angel said.

"But why us?" Gazzy asked.

"Not us," I flew forward and pressed my hand against it before glancing back at the Flock. "Them. The us on this side. Guys, we made it. And they did this to stop them from coming and seeing what was here. Because then they'd know that they'd been tricked."

"So this is like damage control?" Ratchet asked. I nodded and Dylan said, "Preventative damage control." Fang nodded and flew up beside me, pressing his hand to the wall and running down it, watching as some of the blackish brown crumpled away. "This is old." Fang stated, wiping his hands on his jeans. "That makes sense," Nudge whispered. "Yeah they did this a while ago incase any of us, well, them, came looking for proof." Gazzy seconded.

"So what do we do now Max?" Nudge asked, turning to me as she pumped her tawny wings. I thought for a moment then glanced over my shoulder towards where the School should have been. The others followed my gaze and frowned.

"Max we can't just barge into the School." Angel protested, her eyes wide. "Yeah that's suicide!" Iggy exclaimed, looking at me as if I'd gone crazy. I waved my arms and said, "Guys! I didn't suggest anything."

"Yeah but you had that look like you were gonna try something crazy or charge off." Damn you Total.

My eyes narrowed and I beat my wings harder. "Was not. I was just thinking." The Flock just looked at me.

I turned and faced where we had come then slowly rotated towards the West again. I sighed and when I looked back at the Flock my face was full of determination. "Guys, we have to find ourselves. And I'm the closest that we know of."

"But Max why do we have to find ourselves?" Gazzy asked, confusion clouding his face.

I glanced at him and said, "Because how am I supposed to save the world without your help?"

(Kovu Pov.)

Sand, sun, bright lights, sharp smells, need water, throat dry. Kovu rose to his paws and shook his body sending sand flying as his mane shook, a dark spot in the midst of the light filled world. Pain, hurt, wings hurt, paws hurt, body hurt, must move, must find others. Kovu lifted his nose to the sky and parted his jaws, tasting the warm breeze on his tongue.

Sand, cactus, rock, sky, human, dog, water, prey. Kovu twisted towards the dog smell and took off at a trot across the sand. His pads cracked against the sharp rocks and a gust of wind brought sand up into his face but he shook his head and continued on over a rise before stopping on a large out cropping and surveying the ground below.

Cactus, bushes, rocks, sand, black dot, fur, dog, Total. Kovu's ears pricked at the sight of the black dot in the distance half way hidden under a large cactus's shadow. Leaping down the rocks Kovu padded over to the dark shape and stretched out his nose to nudge the little black dog who was curled up on his side.

Under his touch the black shape stirred and let out a whimper. Kovu cocked his head to the side and nudged him again this time blinking as he caught a fresh scent. Blood.

Kovu's jaws parted to drink in the scent and he bent his head lower before pushing the small dog over further on his back. Then Kovu saw the red seeping out of a back paw, where a tiny thorn had punctured the pad. "Just end me now, put me out of my misery." Total's anguished voice reverberated in Kovu's ears and he glanced at the small Scotty dog with curious eyes.

Total covered his face with one paw and closed his eyes, "Make it quick, is all I ask. I want to die fast so that I maybe with my sweet again." Kovu rolled his eyes and nudged Total who glanced at him with one eye. "What?"

Kovu lifted a huge paw and then set it down again. Total looked up and saw the tiny thorn in his pad.

"Oh."

Kovu let out a snort and bent his head carefully wrapping the tips of his teeth, lips drawn back, around the thorn and yanking it out with a quick jerk of his head. "Ouch!" Total barked but then flexed his paw and stood up shaking sand off his black coat as Kovu twisted and spat the thorn out. "Thanks."

Kovu nodded his head which was easily twice Total's body size and parted his jaws once again before turning to head West. "Hey wait where are we going?" Total asked, running to catch up to the lion. Kovu glanced back down at the small dog, his dark eyes sparking with intelligence as he let out a low growl.

"Human? You mean the Flock?" But Kovu shook his head and growled deeper, almost menacingly, in his throat. "Lab smell human? Oh! You mean Jeb. Jeb's to the West?" Kovu nodded and leapt up a jumble of rocks Total had to fly over in order to keep up.

"I'm glad, you can smell him. I can't." Total muttered deciding it was better to fly. Kovu glanced at him, Total flying 6 feet in the air by his head, and flicked his ear. Though he could smell human and lab smell he could also smell something else, something that quickened his pace. It was blood. Lots, of it, and the human smell was mixed with it.

Questions:

girlreadsalot: If you could meet any author besides James Patterson who would it be?

Me: I would say Erin Hunter who is actually three authors working together under the same Pen Name (like my pen name Avenging Angels) and I would chose them because they started me into liking to read with their series Warriors. Also I would chose Michelle Paver who wrote the series Chronicles of Ancient Darkness which I absolutely love and have read over and over.

iggsplosives: Will Ella be in the story anymore? And when you are done with this story will you write another one?

Me: Yes, Ella will still have a part just not much until the end. And yes I will write another I just have to be inspired first, much like I was with this story. I will probably write a one or two shot next.

Also iggsplosives asked me to help convince fnick girl to read Avenging Angels. So here I am, fnick girl, will you read Avenging Angels? If you like this story or the prequel you will love Avenging Angels. Please? ;)

Neon shoelaces and Fax: Have you ever thought of being a professional writer? Do you think tomatoes are a fruit or vegetable?

Me: Every. Single. Day. You just have to get lucky with that one in a million story idea that can become famous. Look at Twilight and Harry Potter. Also I believe it is a fruit because it grows on a vine but to me that doesn't matter because besides ketchup, I hate em'. lol

Unknown Writer O.o: you mentioned Maya, Dylan, Jason thing.

Me: Basically because Maya is Max's clone a lot of Max is showing up in Jason despite Maya and Max having different personalities and slightly different appearances now. Jason is acting like a boy Max basically with Dylan mixed in. It just kinda makes it awkward because basically Jason is what DylanXMax would be. But it's not. He is Dylan and Maya's kid.

AnikaandAj: When did you start liking writing?

Me: About 9th grade. I started taking gifted language arts and reading classes 5th grade, got better and better, sixth grade found the Warriors series and read and read them, still do and I'm a Senior in Highschool now, and then I just got inspired and started writing. 9th grade though is when I remember typing on my computer and really trying to make myself better.

Any more questions?

Also, if you are from out of the U.S.A and want me to do a special shout out I will if you just put where you are from. Not specific, just country. I'm an American. What are you? (Everyone can put their's even if you are American for my American friends!)