This one kinda took a while, sorry guys. I was trying to get out at least one chapter a day, but it seemed this weekend was a mess. Not to mention I've got fake nails right now and they are hell to type with.

Anyway, we get to meet a new character today. Hope you guys like him, he's gonna be fun to write. No worries, he is from the anime and once you find out who he is, you'll know exactly...well, who he is.

So, yeah. I know it's been a while, but if yalls want, I can try to do that contest thing again. But again, it's up to you. See ya again soon...or...read from you...or...something. Whatever, just have fun reading.

Chapter 35

A NEW FRIEND

Fakir had to drag Lillie into the Swamp so he could find the others faster. Lillie wanted to look at all the disgusting things that were randomly located all over the mucky landscape and soon they were ankle deep in soggy mud. It became more difficult to run, but he kept her moving even though he was slowing down.

He pushed her forward as his foot got stuck and he gasped, "Lillie, you need to keep going, no matter what. Got it?"

"Well, duh," she grinned then looked at him, "but what about you?"

"Just keep going! I'll be fine," he said and pushed her again.

"Uh…okay, if you say so."

She took one last look at him then ran off. The moment she was out of sight, he nearly collapsed against a nearby tree. He could hardly keep his eyes open, but he still forced himself forward. It probably wasn't such a good idea to let Lillie leave, but he knew that she had to find the others before anything else would happen. If they saw her, they would know he was alright and keep going, but that would be bad for him.

He trudged through the murky mud and eventually found some more…solid ground. It would be so much easier to walk, but it wouldn't help if he passed out. All the excitement and physical exertion was really doing a number on him since he had lost so much blood and still hadn't fully healed. The entire time he was walking, he was cursing the Raven and wanting to shoot the man in the face, but that would have to wait.

As he nearly tripped over an upturned root, he heard rustling and he feared the worst, only to see Altor stumble through the trees, his shirt untucked and his glasses twisted on his face.

His eyes grew wide when he saw him and he said, "Altor? Are…are you back to normal?"

The nerd looked up and said, "Huh? Fakir? What are you doing out here? How did I get out here and…" he looked down at his hand, "what am I doing with this pistol?"

Fakir quickly grabbed the weapon and said, "I'll explain later. We need to find the others. Where's the hover board?"

"The…hover board? Oh…it's over there somewhere," he said and tried to fix his glasses. "Why are we in this Swamp? Did I miss something?"

"I'd say, but let's get the hover board. If it still works, we can find the others far faster than before," Fakir said.

They quickly walked through the brush to find the board standing in the mud and it took all of their strength for to pull it out. Fakir tested it to find it still worked and they were soon slicing through the trees. It wasn't long before Altor realized how exhausted Fakir was and it wasn't surprising to him that they were losing direction.

"Hey, maybe we should land. You don't look too good," Altor suggested.

"I'm fine," Fakir argued. "Once we find…the others…we can…"

His voice faded out and his eyes closed. They began to lose speed and the front of the board hit a tree, sending the two into a spin and crashing. Fakir moaned, trying to get up, but found it too difficult and he fell back to the ground, his lungs begging for air.

Altor rushed to his brother's side and softly smacked his face, saying, "Hey, Fakir. Don't go out on me. Come on, wake up. You've already come this far."

Just as he was saying that, the sounds of a group making its way through the trees was heard and Altor began to panic.

"Fakir!" he whispered loudly. "Wake up, damnit!"

"Altor?" one of the voices asked.

He turned around to see Duck staring at him through the trees. She saw Fakir laying on the ground unconscious and she quickly ran over to him.

"Fakir! Oh, dear. What happened?" she said and looked at Altor. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing," he said, lifting his hands in defense. "We were trying to find you guys and he passes out."

Just then, the others showed up and Lillie squealed when she saw Altor and hugged him.

"Yay! You look like hell!" she giggled.

He looked at everyone else and they just shrugged.

Duck's attention was taken once again by Fakir when she noticed the stains on his makeshift cast and sling had grown bigger. She carefully peeled away the bandages only to find his wounds had reopened. She gasped and felt his forehead.

"His face is on fire," she said. "He not only lost a lot of blood, but he's sick. No wonder he passed out. Does anyone have something I can use to rewrap his arm?"

"You can use my skirt," Lillie said. "It has two layers, see?"

She lifted the top layer and giggled. Femio quickly pushed it back down and shook his head.

"Not now, mon amie," he whispered.

"I have this jacket," Altor said, not realizing he had the pistol in his hand. Everyone gasped and moved away. "What?"

"Altor, give me that," Femio demanded.

"Why? What's going on?"

"It's alright," Duck said. "I think…whatever the Raven did, it's gone now."

"Didn't he say something about the weak minded fall first?" Mytho asked. "What did that mean?"

"I guess, to the King, Altor was easily converted or something," Duck said and went back to Fakir. "But we have to get him someplace we can get him healed."

"Yeah…we might want to get someplace indoors before nightfall," Altor said, worriedly.

"Why?"

"That's when the monsters come out," he explained and Femio's eyes went wide.

He grabbed Lillie and used her as a guard as he asked, "M…monsters? What monsters?"

"Unearthly creatures," he explained as he stood. "I'd say we have maybe three hours at most. We need to get moving."

"What about Fakir?" Duck asked.

"Hopefully the hover board survived this crash," he said and lifted it only to find a few pieces broken loose. He pushed the ON button and it turned on, but it barely floated above the ground. He shrugged and said, "Well…we can put him on this and push him until we find a safe place to crash."

Everyone looked at each other and agreed with the nerd. The three boys lifted Fakir onto the board and soon they were moving steadily through the Swamp. Duck wanted to push Fakir so she could keep a close eye on him and she found it hard to take her eyes off of him. She was so worried. Not only was he hurt, but not letting himself rest for the last couple days also added to his misery. She just wanted to be able to take away all his pain, but she knew she couldn't do that. She had no way of doing that and besides only the pretty girl with the long red hair could do something like that.

They didn't get very far when they heard the Raven's men marching through the trees and they quickly found a hiding spot. Duck again didn't leave Fakir and she hid him and herself behind a large grouping of thorny bushes. She looked around to see the others climbing into the trees or sliding into the open crevices of some of the rotting trees.

She could hear the men marching closer and she knelt down as far as she could, her breath becoming labored with fear. She heard the men getting closer and she held her breath, absentmindedly clutching Fakir's good hand. He somehow felt it and he moved a bit and groaned softly.

She bit her lip and did everything she could to keep him quiet, but it was too late. The guards heard him and began moving toward them. She wasn't sure if they knew she was there, but she covered her mouth and waited, her body shaking in fright.

She didn't want to go back to that place, the dark, wet dungeon of the castle and her mind was racing. What was she going to do? What could she do? There was no way she was going to go back there willingly.

She looked down at Fakir, still unconscious, and made a decision. She was going to make a run for it with him. She knew that if he went back there too, he'd never survive it, and she waited for just the right moment to grab the board and push him through the trees, surprising the guards and getting as far from the area as she could.

However, the idea didn't quite turn out the way she had hoped. As she ran, Fakir woke up slightly and moved, tilting the board and causing her to go in a completely different direction. She called out in surprise as they headed toward a steep decline and she lost hold of the board. She tripped and watched in horror as the board flew off with the half aware and still very sick Fakir still on it.

She would have loved to watch where he went so she could find him again, but the guards were catching up quickly and she had to run. She ran blindly through the trees, tripping over several upturned roots, and before she knew what had happened, she fell knee deep into a bog. She began sinking.

"No!" she cried in fright.

She began struggling and panicking and crying, which wasn't exactly smart on her behalf. She continued her flailing when she heard a familiar voice.

"Duck. Stop," the voice ordered. She looked around but saw no one. "Take a few deep breathes, Duck, and think. Look around. You can find a way out."

Duck obeyed and slowed her breathing. She looked around and found one of the many upturned roots poking into the bog and she tried reaching for it. Her arms weren't long enough.

She began pouting. "I can't do it! I'm useless."

"Don't give up," the voice said, its owner's image becoming clear to the girl. "Find a way to reach it. I know you can do it."

Duck stared up at the girl and sobbed softly, "I can't. I'm not smart or strong enough. I can't even help Fakir."

"That's the Raven's cloud talking, Duck," she said and smiled. "You are very strong. You've come this far, you can still go on. And besides, Fakir will need your help again very soon. He believes in you, just like you believe in him. Your faith fuels the other's."

Duck thought about it for a second. The girl was right. Fakir did believe in her, didn't he? She smiled as she wiped her eyes and carefully…very carefully made her way to the root. Too much movement would make her sink lower and she wasn't going to let that happen.

She grabbed the root and just as she pulled herself up, the image of the girl disappeared and the guards pushed through the brush. She gasped and quickened her pace. She stumbled as she got out, but kept running. She didn't stop running until she realized…she was no longer on any ground.

She had run right off the side of a cliff…or a strange chasm that seemed to have sunk into the Swamp. She screamed as she fell and, naturally, she opened her wings, knowing they wouldn't do anything, only to find herself slow down. She rolled on the ground and looked back up at the lip of the chasm.

She rushed behind a tree just as the guards showed up and she gasped heavily as the men fired at her. She closed her eyes, waiting for anything bad to happen only hear fighting. Someone was fighting the guards and she looked around the tree to see a large…thing attacking the men. It had the face of a rat, the body the size of a lion, the tail of a snake and the front feet of an eagle.

"What is that?" Duck whispered to herself.

She watched, her heart racing, and wondered where the thing came from. She couldn't imagine that it just showed up. Something must have lured it there and it seemed that something was sliding down into the chasm.

It was Fakir!

Duck's eyes lit up and she was about to run to him when the rat thing jumped in front of him. She screamed, "Fakir! Look out!"

He looked up at it, but he had no more energy left. He stumbled to his knees and collapsed. He had used all of his energy to find Duck and now his illness and wounds had taken over once again.

She gasped and just as the rat thing was about to attack him, she ran forward, yelling, "No! Don't hurt him!"

She stopped right in between the two. She wrapped her arms around Fakir and tightly closed her eyes, waiting for the creature to bite…but it didn't. Duck slowly opened her eyes to find a bright light encompassing them and the girl standing in front of the rat. Duck couldn't believe her eyes. The girl was petting the rat and putting it to sleep using a lullaby. Wait…the tune sounded almost like the song Duck would sing.

Duck listened and watched intently and the girl just smiled at her. Fakir's limp body slipped from Duck's fingers and she stood, walking towards the girl's beckoning hand. Duck took her hand, her jaw slightly slack, and allowed the pretty girl to place her hand on the creature. Duck actually started petting it and it seemed to like it too. She giggled and looked at the girl only to see her fade once more. Duck was once again alone with her fears and the cold light.

The rat nuzzled her arm and even started panting like a puppy. She giggled at it again and it sat on its rump.

"Awe," she said. "You are so cute. You're not as scary as I thought. Good boy."

The rat thing started to make a strange noise and it began shrinking. She stared as it turned into a scraggly grey tabby cat with a white nose. She looked at it in confusion and knelt before it.

"That's odd," she said. "You're a cat?"

"I am not just a cat, miss," it said, its voice scratchy like the pinecones of an evergreen, and she gasped.

"You can talk?"

"Of course, I am one of twenty," he said, licking his paw. "My brothers and sisters live here too. What are you doing here?"

"I…I…I was running from those men you were attacking…if that really was you," she said and fell back on her bottom. "I think maybe I was dreaming."

"No, that was me, miss. I change into that creature when I feel I am in danger or need to protect my family and home," he said and placed his paw on Duck's knee. "May I ask, but you are a strange creature. What are you?"

"I'm…I'm a human…I think," she said.

"What is your name, human?"

"Duck."

"Well, hello Duck, I am known as Mr. Cat," he said and bowed his head. "I am glad to meet you, Miss Duck."

"Thank you, but…can you help my friend?" she said and looked at Fakir. "He's sick and really hurt. I'm afraid that our adventures in this Swamp aren't helping him get better."

"I can make something for his sickness, but I'm afraid we have nothing in the swamp that can help injuries," Mr. Cat said. He walked over to the boy and felt his head. "Yes, very ill. I will return soon with medicine. Don't leave from this place. I will tell my family that you will not be harmed."

He bounded off, but before he could leave the lip of the chasm, Duck called, "Wait! I have other friends out there! Please, can you make sure they don't get hurt as well?"

"How many?"

She counted on her fingers. "Four. One is actually a small robot, but she's also my friend."

"I will see what I can do, Miss Duck," he said and disappeared over the lip.

Duck looked back down at Fakir and whispered, "I sure hope he's good to his word. I really want you to get better."

She felt his face once more and leaned on his chest, her body finally telling her that all the excitement was too much, and she fell asleep, the only sounds being those of strange bugs and a few birds.