A/N: So at the time of me posting this, this chapter is the last one that I have fully completed. Chapter 4 is currently in progress, but I can't guarantee a release date on that one. Chances are that the schedule will become somewhat sporadic after this. I am in college, after all.

On a less important note, this chapter's title being the same as a song from Frozen II was completely unintentional, and I'm too lazy to change it, so MLEH.

But whatever. Hope you guys are liking this story so far. I left you on a bit of a cliffhanger last time. Let's remedy that, shall we?


Chapter 3: Into the Unknown

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH…!"

"GAAAHHH-HAH-HAAAAAHHHHH…!"

"AAH! AAH! WAAAAAHHHHH-HAAAHHH…!"

SNAP CRACK CRUNCH SNAP SNIKT CRACK CLONK

Ed lost his grip on Edd and Eddy the moment his chest hit the first twig at the top of the pine tree. With all three Eds now in individual freefalls, they tumbled down the tree haphazardly, screaming like banshees, flopping upside-down and right-side-up over and over again. The smaller branches snapped under their weight in a flurry of splinters and needles. They flatly and painfully banged against the thicker ones. Ed helplessly flailed his arms as if in some desperate attempt to fly, or at least slow his descent. Edd tried several times to grab a branch and stop himself, succeeding only in snatching up air or scratching off some bark. Eddy's drop was momentarily halted halfway down when he took a hard blow to the crotch, only for the branch to bend and break away from the trunk, sending the boy on his way.

Several more dizzying flips and collisions later, Ed slammed to the ground, followed by Edd a few feet away, and finally Eddy on the opposite side of the trunk. Pained, disoriented, reeling from the brutal impact, lying in a shower of evergreen needles and pine cones, the three Eds quickly and silently slipped into the cold embrace of unconsciousness.


"...ee? Doubled… Double D!"

The first thing that Edd became aware of as he began to wake back up was the splitting headache tearing at every inch of his skull. The second was the distant voice calling to him from beyond the darkness. His body shivered, igniting waves of dull pain that steadily swept away his numbness. As he slowly opened his eyes, taking his time to let them adjust to the light and come into focus, he found that the voice was not as far away as he initially thought.

"Double D!" Ed smiled with elated relief to see his friend rejoin the living. "You're awake!"

"Aaahhh…" Edd couldn't muster a standard response, only managing to wheeze out an uncomfortable groan. Every one of his muscles screamed in protest as he shakily propped himself up into a sitting position. His hand flew to his forehead, tenderly cushioning the migraine. What just happened? Why did everything hurt?

For that matter, how long had they been out? With little more than a quick glance between the trees, it was clear that the sun was out, a sharp contrast to the morning's overcast gloom. Judging by the soft golden light, the day was most likely nearing late afternoon.

"Gahhh… Fer cryin'...!" Sounded like Eddy was starting to wake up too. Well, good. They were all together and still alive. Hopefully none of them had sustained any severe injuries from their drop.

Edd's eyes widened as the memories started rushing back to him. The aural and optical phenomenon on the laboratory testing ground. Their friends disappearing. Ed grabbing them and making a break for it. The three somehow winding up at the top of a tree and plummeting to the earth in one quick step.

"Ed…" Seeking first to establish some semblance of security, Edd turned to his oafish friend with a concerned expression. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm okay," Ed grunted with a weary smile. "My face kinda hurts and I think I landed on my spleen, but I'm okay."

"G-Good…" Edd opted not to fret too much and instead crawled through the grass, inching closer to their third companion. "Eddy?"

"Ow…" Eddy sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Did anyone catch the license plate number on that truck?"

A sharp, sympathetic grimace crossed Edd's face. Clearly none of them were in great shape, but he was trying his best to take a slight amount of comfort in the fact that they were all still in one piece.

"We went for a ride, guys…" Ed guffawed, plopping down next to Edd and Eddy and dizzily swaying in place with a dopey grin.

Edd moaned again and continued to massage his temples. "That's putting it very mildly, Ed. How on Earth did we go from standing outside the laboratory to falling head-over-heels from the top of a tree?"

Ed suddenly snapped to attention. The adrenaline was wearing off and the startling images of his friends vanishing were returning to him. "Oh no…" He swiveled his head back and forth, scanning their surroundings. "Guys? Where's Sarah?! A-And Demi and North?!"

"Yeah, I don't have an answer for ya there, Monobrow," Eddy grunted, leaning against Ed for support. "But, uh, here's a better question: WHERE THE HECK ARE WE?!"

Though Eddy's characteristic shouting was like a stake piercing through Edd's brain, it did prompt him to take a proper look around…

A dense coniferous forest stretched in every direction as far as the eye could see. The music of birds and chirping of insects filled the air, unperturbed by the human intruders. Scattered about, pines, junipers and hemlocks of every shape, size and shade of green stood tall and proud among the ground-hugging shrubs, grasses and occasional stones. The predominant trees of the forest, however, appeared to be redwoods. Absolutely enormous redwoods. Edd had to lean back and crane his neck just to gauge the height of the monolithic trees closest to them, each one decorated with unique patterns of branches, splits in their trunks, and gorgeous ruddy bark, stretching hundreds of feet to touch the rich blue sky.

"Wow…" Ed breathed raptly, his smile serene and his eyes glossed over as he paused his search to take in the image of the forest. "This place is pretty."

"Okay, sure, but what is this place?!" Eddy asked impatiently. "How'd we get here?!"

Edd's eyes slowly trailed downward in mortification. He tilted forward until he dropped onto his shaky hands and knees. The lab. The equipment they wandered past. The lights and sounds. The spontaneous appearance of the tree. Every moment leading up to their bout of trauma-induced unconsciousness was crystal clear in his mind, and likely in Ed and Eddy's too, ruling out the possibility that Ed had unknowingly carried them into the woods. Besides, the idea of Ed climbing a tree in such a state, or even fully cognizant for that matter, was far-fetched. This deduction, coupled with so many other factors, led Edd to one conclusion. One that he found completely absurd but couldn't deny the possibility of.

"Teleportation…"

Ed and Eddy's attention simultaneously snapped to their sockheaded companion. The latter screwed up his face and perked an eyebrow with skepticism. "Huh?"

Slowly, Edd turned his head to face the two, his breaths shuddering and his eyes full of concern. "The laboratory… they've been experimenting with instantaneous, non-parallel travel. Th-That network of machines we were walking through must have been their prototype."

Immediately, Ed's eyes lit up with wonder and his grin grew to impossible proportions. "THE PORTAL MACHINE WORKS!"

"Aw, c'mon, ya nerds!" Eddy interjected, giving Ed's arm a shove. "How is a portal the first answer ya come to? Yeah, I get that the lab is trying to invent them and we were just talkin' about it last night, but I would think that you of all people would try to come up with something that we know for a fact is real first, Double D!"

"I fully acknowledge the ludicrousness of this suggestion," Edd explained, poorly masking the fear in his tone. "But considering the circumstances –not to mention this headache that's somewhat hampering my ability to process things coherently– I genuinely can't think of a more logical explanation. The distortions in space we witnessed, our friends' spontaneous disappearances, our sudden relocation to the top of a tree… a-and just look around!"

Edd sat up straight and spread his arms out to full length. "Redwood trees such as these are not endemic to Peach Creek or any surrounding area! These more closely resemble the sequoias found on the west coast. I don't know for sure where we are, Eddy, but based on topography alone, I can almost guarantee it's far from home."

Stars continued to shine in Ed's eyes as he stared up at the massive trees. They had just teleported! To a realm of untouched beauty and wonder, no less! Of course he was going to revel in this discovery. "One small step for man, one giant leapfrog!"

Eddy, on the other hand, was stunned silent. He stared at the ground not with earth-shattering shock or dread, but with simple, blunt confusion. His pupils flicked about as he struggled to put the pieces together in his brain. Eddy had to concede that Edd would know this better than any of them, but even he could tell that they had landed in unfamiliar territory.

Eventually Eddy shook himself off and decided that the how and why were not as important as he was making them out to be. The bottom line was that they were lost. Might as well try to deal with that first. "Okay, then how are we supposed to-? OW!"

The other Eds jumped at Eddy's sudden outburst, coinciding with him smacking the small of his back. Edd anxiously started inching closer to him. "Eddy, what hap-?! YEOWCH!"

"OUCHIE!" Ed clutched his right calf. At the same time, Edd grabbed his left hand, feeling a hard crunch beneath his palm as he slapped the source of the torment. Red-hot needles of pure agony shot through their skin, and many more fiery stabs soon followed in a multitude of locations, leaving all three Eds howling in pain.

"SUNNOVA-!" Eddy stood up and started patting himself down in a frantic dance. "Stupid bugs! Get offa me!"

Fighting the burning sensations, Edd looked down at his hand. A large, bright red ant lay crushed and dead in his palm. His wide eyes then shot to the ground. Through the grass they were sitting in, just barely obscured by the dark earth, he could see swarms of similar red speckles scurrying about, clinging to his pants and socks. On cue, he felt two more of the brutal insects chomp down on his abdomen.

"KYAHH…! FIRE ANTS!"

Ed wailed in pain and disgust, leaping to his feet, desperately trying to shake his tiny tormentors off. Eddy started backing up, still yelping and smacking himself with every bite. Edd finally managed to haul himself up and escape the thick of the swarm. From that point on, there was only one thing to do…

"RUN AWAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

The Eds immediately kicked it into high gear. Their combined sprint, though hasty, was somewhat more akin to drunken staggering than true sprinting as they zig-zagged through the trees, occasionally grabbing the trunks to keep themselves from falling, continuing to pat themselves down all the while and rid themselves of any stragglers. Eddy was the first to look back; where the grass gave way to bare dirt, he saw a mass of red skirting along the ground in hot pursuit.

"DOUBLE D! THEY'RE FOLLOWING US!"

Edd looked over his shoulder, confirming Eddy's decree. He faced forward again, his racing mind straining to find a proper escape route. If these ants were persistent enough to chase quarry many times their size, the chances of them following the trio up a tree or boulder was highly plausible. There had to be safe ground somewhere, but he just wasn't seeing it. The forest was blurring together… spinning… stirring up the contents of his stomach… setting his throat on fire…

Barely conscious of his actions, Edd stumbled to a halt, leaned against his knees and loudly vomited onto the ground, his body quickly growing weak under the combined influence of his migraine and the venom. Eddy tripped up for only a moment, but otherwise continued to run while throwing his pal an anxious look. "DOUBLE D, COME ON!"

"RUN! THEY'RE GONNA EAT YOU!" Ed insisted, throwing Edd over his shoulder and chasing after Eddy.

His lopsided position and the constant motion didn't help Edd's stomach, nor did the sight of the fire ant colony still skittering after their lunch, but he did not protest. If anything, Ed's assistance gave him leeway to think. To clear his mind somewhat of the panic and focus on a way out.

Wait… What was that sound?

Edd looked to his right, Ed's left. Through the trees, he could see a streak of sparkling blue cutting through the forest. The gentle ambiance of flowing water filled his ears.

"There! The stream!" Edd shouted, pointing Ed in the proper direction. "Head for the stream!"

"This-a-way, Eddy!" Ed hollered, following Edd's finger, making a beeline for the water.

"Right behind ya, Lumpy!" Eddy responded, kicking up dirt as he turned a sharp ninety degrees and chased after Ed.

Water sprayed in all directions as Ed jumped headlong into the stream, shortly followed by Eddy, with Edd sliding off his perch soon thereafter. It was a relatively shallow brook, just barely reaching Eddy's chest, but it did its job well. The cold water soothed their burning skin. Any ants still clinging to them promptly detached and were swept away in the gentle current. The colony stopped along the bank. For a moment, Edd fretted that they might attempt to link together and raft across the water, but this ultimately proved not to be the case as the ants scuttled about in disappointment before retreating back into the brush.

"WHEW…!" Eddy splashed some water onto his face, then gave himself a moment to catch his breath. And here he was thinking that getting zapped across the planet and falling headlong out of a tree would be the worst thing that happened to him today. "Yeah…! Definitely don't remember seeing ants like that in Peach Creek!"

Edd was too exhausted to respond. All he could think to do was let the water wash over his burning body, relaxing his muscles, cooling off the welts that covered him. He briefly inspected the water, taking note of its crystalline color and, against his better judgment, scooping up a few handfuls and desperately slurping them down, quenching his dry, burning throat.

Ed slogged across the brook and crawled out on the opposite side, dropping to his hands and knees and shaking off the excess water like a dog. Even he had to agree that this was not a pleasant introduction to this new land. "Oww…! Those ants were meaner than the mecha beetles in Rampage of the Bugbots 2: Assimilation!"

"Yeah, not gonna lie," Eddy groaned as he waded through the water and onto the bank, promptly wringing out his shirt. "At this point, I'm willing to go along with the whole portal idea, 'cause I sure as heck don't know how else to explain the change in scenery or the pests that came with it!"

With a deep sigh, Edd removed himself from the stream and sat down next to his companions, drying off his sodden clothes as best he could. "I agree that our circumstances could be substantially worse… and that they could be significantly better as well. If this is what we're to experience in this new land, I dread to imagine where the rest of our friends were delivered. It's certainly fortuitous that the three of us are still together."

"Got that right." Eddy briefly removed his tennis shoes, giving his socks a moment to air out. "So if I could go back to my earlier question… where do ya think we landed, Double D?"

Curled up, shivering, still lacking total focus, Edd looked up and studied his surroundings once more, piecing together information on the flora and fauna they had encountered in order to theorize possible locations. "Based on what few observations I have to go on thus far, I would say that our most likely placement is in California. Perhaps within or at least in close proximity to Yosemite National Park. As I stated, the trees appear similar to those native to the west coast, and there are records of red imported fire ants in the southern latitudes of the state."

"Sheesh." Eddy folded his arms. "First time going to California and I get dropped down a tree and munched on by bugs. This is not how I wanted that vacation to go."

"I always thought California was where the movies were made," Ed humbly offered.

"Hollywood does not encompass the entire state, Ed," Edd replied.

"Woulda been a better place to land than this backwood, anyway," Eddy griped. "So what're we supposed to do now? Just hike until we find civilization?"

Edd slowly pulled himself up on shaky legs. "I see no other option, Eddy. I cautiously hold out hope that we're close to a tourist site, if not an actual town or city. There may yet be someone out here who can guide us to a safe haven, and we're more likely to find them if we start walking now as opposed to sitting around and waiting for salvation to find us. Besides, I'm having difficulty ascertaining how much daylight remains. We don't want to be lost out here after dark."

"Yeah, I guess not." Eddy slipped his shoes back on. "Whatever gets me further away from the angry ant farm is fine by me."

"We venture forth into parts unknown!" Ed decreed, shooting to his feet. "Seeking adventure, intrigue, and maybe some ointment!"

"Looking forward to that last one for sure."

Edd took a deep breath and stared ahead, taking a moment to decide the best direction to travel in. "Let's go, gentlemen. The sooner we find another human being, the better."

Hugging his arms to brace himself against the cold and his insecurities, Edd began a limp slog towards what he desperately hoped was north. Ed bounded after him with a blissful grin and an eager skip, blazing right past Edd in a mere three seconds. For a short while, Eddy trailed behind, studying Edd's slacked posture with a deadpan frown. Sure, the two were equally annoyed at their situation, but Eddy knew his pals well by this point. He knew that Edd wasn't going to be on his A-game when he was this mopey.

"Hey, come on," Eddy chided with a smirk, throwing an arm around his companion. "Lighten up, Sockhead. So we got dumped into a forest on the other side of the country and picked up some bug bites on the way. We've taken worse beatings before, haven't we?"

Edd shrugged, staring at his feet. "In terms of physical duress, I suppose we have been in less comfortable positions."

"Right! And hey, we didn't get dropped into the ocean or a volcano or something! You're still alive to marvel at the fact that the portal machine worked!"

"Yes, but I would have preferred to witness this success as an observer rather than an impromptu test subject."

"Hey, if nothin' else, there's bound to be fame in our future as the first human portal travelers! Once we get home to tell the tale, anyway."

Edd didn't have a response for that. He simply cast a scowl of accusation at Eddy out of the corner of his eye.

"Look…" Eddy raised his hands, then patted Edd on the shoulder. "We'll figure this out. We always do! 'Cause we're a team! And if this experience proved anything, it's that not even the boundaries of space and time can split this team up!"

It took a moment, but this declaration finally earned a meek smile from Edd. "And thank goodness for that. This is a journey I would rather none of us partake in alone."

"It'd be way more boring that way!" Eddy agreed before dashing ahead. "Now let's get moving before Ed wanders off the face of the earth! WAIT UP, LUNKHEAD!"

Edd let out a low chuckle at the sight, then took a deep breath and followed suit.

Their headaches had nearly faded into the background. Their nausea had settled fairly quickly. The welts that dotted their skin became little more than a light, occasional itch. Their damp clothes were hardly an issue. Seeking nothing more than a way out of this foreign wood, the Eds marched on, weaving through the labyrinth of redwoods, looking around for any signs of life, letting it truly soak in with a mixture of wonder and fear that they weren't in Peach Creek anymore.


"Guys? I'm hungry."

"We know, Ed! You've only told us like fifty times!"

"I apologize for the discomfort, Ed, but I can't gauge with any certainty the potential toxicity of the local plant life. I don't want to see you risk it."

"Speaking of local plants, how much longer are we gonna be surrounded by 'em?!" Eddy loudly protested, spreading his arms out to full length. "We've been hiking all day and haven't seen so much as a dirt road! Are we the only people out here within a gazillion miles?!"

Edd slumped with a heavy sigh, equally frustrated and fatigued. "It's clear that my blind hope that we were close to civilization has not borne fruit."

"Aww…" Ed pouted. "I could go for some fruit."

"Will ya stop talkin' about food?!" Eddy snapped, clutching his own empty gut. "You're not the only one who hasn't eaten since breakfast!"

Opting to ignore his friends' banter for the sake of distracting himself from his own hunger, Edd stepped ahead of the group a bit, making his way towards a break in the treeline. Peering between the densely-packed trunks and ferns, he found himself staring across an open, rocky field that stretched out all of ten yards before dropping off into a sheer cliff. Beyond the plateau they stood upon, the redwood forest continued as far as the eye could see.

Upon catching up with Edd, Eddy pushed aside a fern to peek past him at the sprawling wood below. "Oh, look at that! A forest! Haven't seen that today!"

"Oooooh…" Ed, on the other hand, was mesmerized by the endless waves of evergreen trees drenched in a golden glow. "Is this the enchanted forest, Double D?"

"If by 'enchanted' you mean 'eternal'!" Eddy bitterly responded. "How are we supposed to find our way out of this maze?!"

"That is the question, isn't it?" Edd breathed, glancing out at the horizon. The sun was already halfway set, casting the last of its warm yellow rays upon the forest, the skies above bathed in a soft gradient of reds and purples. Twilight would soon be upon them, and with it, the looming threat of nocturnal predators. The nearest lodging was nowhere to be found, and the Eds were all too exhausted to search for much longer.

"Perhaps it's best that we seek shelter for the night," Edd continued, not exactly enthusiastic about an impromptu camping trip. "It's getting late. My legs need a rest."

"Yer tellin' me," Eddy moaned, massaging his thigh. "I feel like I could sleep for the rest of the summer after that expedition. So where should we set up camp?"

"Preferably somewhere that offers protection from any hostile creatures," Edd mumbled, stepping out of the forest and into the open field. He cautiously approached the edge of the cliff, ever mindful of his footing as he glanced down at what looked to be a fifteen-story drop.

"If only I'd brought my voyager's pack," Ed mused with a thoughtful grin. "Then we'd have a bed, food, water, and lots of rope, 'cause no pack is complete without rope!"

"I can't tell if you're being serious or if you're confusing yourself for your L&W character again," Eddy grunted, scratching at a welt. "Or at this rate, both."

"We're on an adventure, Eddy! One full of magic and wonderment befitting of the Peach Vale Voyagers!" Ed swept his arm out at the sprawling landscape. "It's the warrior's duty to brave the odds, defend the weak, and roll for survival checks!"

Eddy rocketed onto his tiptoes, shooting Ed a devilish smirk. "You callin' me weak, Burhead?"

"Well, the thief class only gets a d8 hit die and mastery of light armor."

"When did I say I was gonna play a thief, huh?"

"Aw, come on, Eddy," Ed gleefully chided, scooping his vertically-challenged friend into a one-armed embrace. "We're the Fighter, the Mage, and the Thief! The classic adventure trio! A perfect combo of strength, smarts, and sneakiness!"

Eddy slipped out of Ed's grasp as smoothly as butter, his devious grin playfully growing wider. "Well, ya got one thing right today! If I'm gonna play the thief, let's see just how sneaky I can be!" Then Eddy dove back into the brush, weaseling his way through the tall grass.

"Ha haaa!" Ed snatched a large stick off the ground and readily chased after Eddy. "Show yourself, scoundrel of the deep dark! Face the might of Edmundus Greentoast!"

Ed came to a halt in a small clearing, having lost track of the rustling in the bushes. He narrowed his eyes and carefully looked around, play sword at the ready, scanning his surroundings for any sign of the dastardly rogue. He couldn't let his guard down. He had to be ready for any underhanded tactic. Wait, what smelled like waffles…?

"AH!"

A twig stretched out from between the fronds and poked Ed in the hip. In that same spot, Eddy showed his face again in short order. "GOTCHA!"

"A SNEAK ATTACK!" Ed swung his branch at the ferns just as Eddy slinked away again. He then resumed the pursuit with an absolutely adorable smile. "Foul villain! Come out and fight like a man, tricky little halfling!"

"Whoa whoa whoa…!" Eddy promptly stood up straight, raising a hand and frowning at Ed. "Thief, maybe, but I ain't playin' no halfling! Got it?"

"Fellows!" Edd waved the two down from across the field, soundly interrupting their game. "Over here!"

Eddy promptly freed himself from the tangle of ferns and dashed over Edd. Ed dropped his stick and followed close behind, asking, "Whadja find, Double D?"

"Down that way." Edd pointed to their left, his arm parallel with the cliff edge. "There's an outcropping in the rock wall about halfway down. It looks large enough to accommodate the three of us."

"We're gonna sleep on a sheet of rock?" Eddy protested. "I might be sick of trees, but I think I'd be more comfortable going to bed monkey style."

"I know it won't be pleasant…" Edd begrudgingly explained, "…but a tree is easier for animals to climb than a vertical stone surface is. We'll be better protected from predators here. Now let's go before we lose any more precious daylight."

"Fine," Eddy grumbled, rubbing his eyes. "But only 'cause I'm too tired to find someplace better."

"Ah, a good night's rest beneath the stars," Ed sighed wistfully as he and Eddy followed Edd to their designated site. "Sounds heavenly."

"Hopefully the only one we will have to endure out here," Edd responded, stopping once more at the edge and staring down at the shelf fifty feet below them. He took a moment to study the formations in the stone, mapping out the safest possible descent route he could find, pinpointing every potential foothold. Then he took a deep breath, steeled his nerves, stretched his muscles, and finally squatted in preparation, dipping his foot into the open air. "This will be a daunting climb…"

Eddy took a quick glance at the drop for himself, shrugging at the sight. "That rope Ed was talkin' about would be nifty, but hey, it doesn't look too bad to me. Right, Ed?" he asked as he swiftly climbed up and secured himself on Ed's back.

"No problem, Eddy!" Ed happily declared, blissfully unperturbed by his relegation to piggyback provider.

Once he had secured himself vertically on the rock wall, Edd looked up and cast a frown at Eddy's display of laziness. "Eddy…"

"What? We've been walking all day! Now yer askin' me to rock climb! My feet are killin' me, Double D!" Eddy retorted. "Besides, you don't mind, do ya, Ed?"

"I live for action, defending what's right, and gaining XP!" Ed replied with an exuberant grin, turning around and readying himself for the climb. "Let's go, Eddy! Onward to sanctuar- Ohhhhh…"

The moment Ed craned his neck to gauge his footing, catching a glimpse at the cliff he was being asked to descend, seeing just how much open space there was between him and the ground below, his acrophobia kicked in, locking him up on the spot. His muscles grew tense. His heart pounded in his chest. Sweat started pouring from his arched brow more heavily than usual.

Eddy sensed this tension from his perch on the big lug's back, raising an eyebrow. "C'mon, Lumpy. Down ya go."

Edd paused his climb, giving his shaking arms a moment to relax, glancing up at Ed. The obvious hesitation on display quickly worried him, prompting Edd to offer his encouragement. "Ed? It's okay. Eddy and I are right here."

"I'm scared, guys!" Ed wailed, hugging the grass like his life depended on it.

"Just focus on the formations of the rock in front of you, Ed. Don't think about the distance," Edd warmly continued. "Only worry about where to place your feet."

"Yeah, you got this," Eddy insisted, offering Ed a nudge on the shoulder. "What were you just sayin' about braving the odds and surviving or whatever? A little rock climbing's gotta be easier than dragon slaying, right?"

Ed's lip wibbled a little. Then he sucked in a deep breath through his nose and mustered a hard scowl of determination.

Seeing that Eddy's words had proven effective, Edd smiled and continued to appeal to Ed's roleplaying fixation. "You can do this, Edmundus! We will make it through this night, I swear!"

"I'm coming, Edvard!" Ed hollered back, finally lowering himself from the top of the plateau and engaging in a rapid but surprisingly controlled climb down the cliff. The conversation continued along the way, with Edd and Eddy cheering Ed on, and Ed spouting occasional, pseudo-inspirational non-sequiturs. The constant banter was doing its part to settle Edd's nerves as well, relaxing his mind and his muscles just enough to carry himself the rest of the way down. Eddy gladly looked between his two pals and the approaching rock shelf, eagerly egging them on once they were but a few feet above it.

Soon enough, Ed and Edd's feet touched down on the flat semicircle, giving them leeway to respectively sit down and sprawl out on the smooth stone. All three Eds unleashed simultaneous sighs of relief. Eddy slid off of Ed's back, sat down with his back against the cliff, and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Nice work, big guy."

"Thanks, Eddy," Ed breathed with a simple, subtle grin. No witty catchphrase this time. He was just happy they were all in a safe place.

"Whew…!" It was taking Edd a while longer to recuperate. His fingers ached, his shoulders were sore, and his knees were trembling. The physical exertion compounded with his hunger and the steady onset of dehydration were doing him no favors. The question of how they would get down from their perch was one he would save for the next morning. For now, all he cared about was rest, no matter how uncomfortable it would inevitably be.

"We… made it, gentlemen…" Edd eventually wheezed. "It's been a long and highly unusual day, but we made it."

"Yep. 'Cause we're survivors," Eddy smugly replied, folding his arms behind his head. A powerful yawn escaped his mouth shortly after making this declaration.

Infected by the sound, Ed rubbed his eyes and let out a yawn of his own. "Sleepytime, guys?"

"It may be our only opportunity," Edd answered. "Although, perhaps it would be wise that the three of us take shifts, as it were. One of us could stay awake for a few hours to keep watch, then wake up another to take over, just in case our safety measures aren't completely foolproo-"

"Not it," Eddy immediately stated, pointedly turning around and settling between two stones still radiating with warmth. "G'night."

Edd could only sigh at Eddy's defiance. His mood was significantly lifted, however, when Ed saluted him and happily declared, "I will take the first watch, Edvard!"

"Thank you, Ed…" For all the hard work that Ed was constantly put through, it genuinely warmed Edd's heart to witness his continued dedication. Simply overcoming his fear of heights for his friends' sake was something to be admired, and the fact that Eddy was safe and secure was something to be grateful for as well. What would they do without each other?

Staring out at the horizon as the last rays of daylight began to fade away, Edd allowed the tranquil ambiance of the forest soothe him. They would find their way home soon…


Sleep was not something that either Edd or Eddy had anticipated coming easily, but it was proving to be even more difficult than they would've liked.

"Ugh…" Eddy grumbled under his breath, squirming in his makeshift bed, straining to find another warm spot untouched by the cool night air. "Can someone phone the hotel staff? Tell 'em to bring up some more comfortable rocks?"

Edd was lying on his back, one hand cushioning his head, the other resting on his sternum. Though his eyelids were heavy and his bags pronounced, his eyes remained open, momentarily giving up on achieving the first stage of NREM. His mind would not settle, constantly dwelling on the day's events and his concerns for tomorrow. So instead of trying to absorb himself in darkness and the anxiety that came with it, Edd looked up at the stars, seeking to unwind.

Eddy rolled over, lazily sprawling out on his pile of rocks, his drowsy eyes glancing down at Edd. In the dim light, he could see his pal's open eyes. "Can't sleep either, huh, Sockhead?"

"I'm afraid slumber is eluding me, Eddy," Edd softly responded.

"Starting to think camping on a rock was a bad idea, or are ya just uncomfortable 'cause ya can't sticker everything?"

"Believe me, Eddy, labeling is the least of my worries right now."

Ed paid no attention to the conversation taking place between his insomnia-stricken companions. He too was stargazing, staring out in wonder at the luminescent nighttime sky, studying the delicate shadows cast by the forest beyond, soaking in the various calls of the nightlife. Crickets and cicadas chirped harmoniously. Owls hooted left and right. Somewhere in the distance, he swore he could hear a wolf howling. Some unidentifiable animal on the other side of the forest let out what could only be described as a sneeze. Whatever it was, it was all so alien and magical to the young man.

"I'm simply trying to distract myself from my more troubling thoughts," Edd continued. "Enough that I can feasibly settle into a more restful mindset."

Eddy let out a stiff groan. "Relaxing is not that complicated, Double D. Stop taking everything so seriously. You're gonna go insane if you worry about it too much. Just stop thinking so hard and maybe that will shut your brain off."

Edd let out a sigh, in no mood to argue about this but continuing the conversation anyway. "Can you blame me for being concerned? We still have nary an idea what our exact location is, let alone that of everyone who followed us onto the testing grounds."

"They couldn't have landed much farther from us, could they? I'm not gonna act like I'm a portal expert, but I doubt it spat us all out at random." Eddy rolled onto his back and steadily sunk back into the lukewarm stone. "We'll find 'em."

"I hope you're right…" Edd breathed, his eyes slowly flicking about as he studied the skies above. The soft silver light of the waxing crescent moon filled only a tiny corner of the midnight blue canvas. The rest of it was aglow with fantastically brilliant stars, shining with a luminescence the likes of which Edd had never seen before. "I will say this on a positive note: The sky out here is absolutely astounding."

Taking note of this remark, Eddy folded his arms and focused his gaze on the sky as well. It wasn't often that he was taken aback by natural beauty –heck, he could say he'd seen his fill of trees for one lifetime in a single day– but this was admittedly doing it for him. "Wow. Never seen stars that bright."

"We're likely quite a ways away from any civilization large enough to cast a significant amount of light pollution," Edd mused. "Even our suburban home produces enough light to dim the skies. This is a pure, unfiltered glimpse into the heavens."

"Not bad," Eddy confessed, mentally tracing the dotted patterns above.

The smallest hint of a smile crossed Edd's face. It seemed like he was finally beginning to achieve respite. Lying there, observing the stars alongside Ed and Eddy… it really was an opportunity he could appreciate. However, it didn't take long for his grin to be replaced with a confused frown and a slight tilt of his head. "Odd…"

"What's odd?" Eddy absentmindedly asked.

"I can't seem to find Polaris."

"Polaris? That one's the fish, right?"

"No no, Polaris is a single star. The North Star." Feeling spurred by his discovery, Edd sat up and started pointing to various locations in the sky. "The sun set over there, meaning that's west, so the North Star should roughly be right about there. But it isn't, and it doesn't seem like Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are either."

Eddy propped himself up a bit, confused by Edd's observations. "You sure you're lookin' in the right direction?"

"I'm nearly positive." Edd rubbed his chin, steadily getting worried again. "These stars are… completely foreign to me. Maybe… Maybe we landed in South America? That would explain the lack of the North Star as well as the fire ants…"

"Double D, you're getting worked up again," Eddy grunted, frustrated that the mood had been killed. "We'll figure out where we are in the morning, okay?"

"Look, guys!" Ed suddenly spoke up, excitedly pointing upward. "Another moon!"

Despite his returning anxiety, Edd had to sigh at that remark. "Come now, Ed, that's a bit far-fetched, even in light of every other circumstance."

Eddy found himself a bit more curious, however, sitting up and following Ed's line of sight. When he spotted what Ed was pointing at, he responded with a perked eyebrow and a tilted head. "I dunno. Kinda looks like a moon to me."

"That's astronomically impossible," Edd insisted, inching closer to the two so he could take a look for himself. "It's probably just a satellite or a-"

As soon as he saw it, though, Edd was silenced on the spot, his sleepy stupor vanishing entirely as his eyes shot wide open.

It shouldn't have been possible. It wasn't possible. He tried to convince himself that his eyes were deceiving him. But no. In clear violation of all astronomical principles, a second celestial body was on display in the night sky, glowing with a soft shade of bronze, currently nearing its last quarter phase. Edd's head snapped back to where he first saw the moon, as if attempting to prove to himself that there was indeed only one, but the silver crescent from before was still in its place, and no matter how many times he looked back and forth between the two, neither moon vanished from his sight.

"That's definitely different," Eddy admitted, though he hardly seemed fazed by the sight. "Have we always had two moons? Has the second one just been hiding behind the first this whole time?"

"N-No… Eddy…" Edd responded incredulously, barely able to muster a squeak. "Earth has never had two moons."

Ed's eyes lit up with a stunning realization, reflecting the stars in all their splendor. Eddy slowly drew himself away from the image of the moon, turning to Edd in sheer disbelief. "Hold on… What're you tryin' to say, Double D?"

Edd continued to stare at the second moon, his stiff body practically numb. He couldn't fathom what he was about to say, but the evidence was staring him in the face from the skies above. It couldn't be denied any longer…

"Wherever we are, Eddy… it isn't on Earth."


Carlisle idly poked at the campfire with a stick, resting his chin in his free hand. He paid no mind to the hustle and bustle taking place around the camp, losing himself in his own thoughts. Sitting across from him was a redheaded dwarf in silvery-white half-plate armor, who had busied himself with stirring the pot that rested above the fire, humming a little ditty all the while.

The dwarf looked up, staring at the squire with intrigue, brushing a hand along his braided beard. "Ye got somethin' on yer mind there, lad?"

"Hmm?" Carlisle's attention snapped forward, though it took him a moment to comprehend the question he was being asked. "Oh, um… It's nothing that I would want to concern you with."

"Ah, come on now." The dwarf smiled warmly at the young man. "What's troublin' ye? Ye can tell ol' Gradrack. I wouldnae tell a'body yer secrets."

Carlisle let out a heavy sigh as he tossed his stick into the fire. He turned away from Gradrack and looked around the camp. The paladins were still hard at work surrounding the area with snares and trapping spells, a process that had begun well over two hours ago. Thorough to the very end, as he was accustomed to in this company, but something about the intense measures they were taking irked him. Still, he was hesitant to elaborate.

Sensing this, Gradrack smirked at Carlisle and briefly went back to cooking. He gave the stew a quick taste test and nodded, pleased with the results. Then he dished some into a bowl and offered it to the squire. "Eat. Put some mince 'n tatties on yer bones, ye wee lad."

For a moment, Carlisle simply stared at the bowl of meat, potatoes and broth. Even when he accepted it, he didn't eat, simply continuing to gaze into it with borderline disappointment, like he was waiting impatiently for the stew to show him his future. Eventually he let out another sigh and glanced back up at the dwarf. "I'm by no means questioning King Audric's orders. I understand the purpose behind them and am honored to see them through. I'm… merely troubled by the potential risks our venture entails."

"Ahhhhh…" Gradrack slowly nodded, quickly deducing what the boy was alluding to. "Ne'er seen a dragon before, have ye?"

"No."

Gradrack laughed heartily as he poured himself some stew, scooping up mouthfuls even as he continued to speak. "Ah remember the first time ah laid me own eyes on a dragon! 'Bout toalied me britches, ah did, ha ha ha!"

The dwarf's anecdote wasn't exactly settling Carlisle's nerves.

"But ye got no reason to be feart. Ye got us lookin' out for ye! If ah know Radley, 'n ah do, he's not about to let some great, scaly beast near ye." Gradrack pointed to Carlisle with his spoon. "Ah seen the way he looks at ye. Like yer own da, he is."

"That he is…" Carlisle quietly mused, finally beginning to nibble on some stew. "I just don't want him to think less of me for my anxieties."

"Yer bum's oot the windae! Don't e'en think of it, lad!" Gradrack waved him off. "A'body gets nervous sometimes. Ah think no lessa yeez for it, 'n neither will Radley."

"I won't think any less of what?"

Carlisle and Gradrack simultaneously turned their heads in the direction of the new voice, not to mention the familiar clicking of full plate armor. Sir Radley approached with a calm, collected grin, his warm brown eyes trained on his squire. Carlisle locked up on the spot, while Gradrack simply smirked, gestured to him and stated, "The lad can tell ye. Ah'm no gobber." Then he went right back to shoveling down food.

Radley sat down next to Carlisle on the log, receiving no eye contact in return from the bashful young squire. "Nervous?"

"S-Somewhat…"

A soft chuckle and a pat on the back brought Carlisle's gaze back to his master. Radley's smile hadn't faltered. "Dealing with dragons is no small feat. That's what has you bothered, isn't it?"

Carlisle simply, warily nodded before turning away and going back to eating his stew.

"Don't you worry, son. I'm prepared to do everything in my power to make this encounter as civil as possible. So long as this dragon is not hostile, we have no intention of harming it, and once it knows that, there is a chance it will hear us out. Don't think of it as a monster. Instead, think of it as a drake… only larger and with wings. You can manage that, can't you?"

"I suppose…"

Radley smirked. "Carlisle? Look at me."

Once he had his squire's attention again, Radley firmly, softly continued, "It'll be alright. The dragons know what we're up against. Many of them seek to combat it as well. Once we have convinced this one of our purpose, it may very well prove to be a formidable ally, or at the very least, it could point us in the direction we have been seeking."

"And you're certain that catching it in snares will not turn it against us?"

"Such precautions are necessary. After all, it may very well be crystallized. We won't know until we see it at close range." Radley stared into the middle distance, then turned back to Carlisle. "In either case, you are right to fear that it will not listen to reason. But this is why we're here. This is the sort of mission we have been trained for. And with every breath I take, I swear I will allow no harm to come to you, son."

Carlisle cast a sad, anxious glance at the ground, slowly nodding back to Radley. "I'm prepared for whatever may come of this encounter, physically if not wholly emotionally. I know I can trust you and the others with my life. It will be a new experience for me, certainly, but I will remain cautiously optimistic."

"Ah, 'n who knows?" Gradrack spoke up through a mouthful of stew. "May-a this 'ere dragon won't e'en show up to gab with us. May-a he's gotten sick of flyin' laps o'er the wood 'n crawled back into his hole."

"I pray that's not the case," Radley sighed as he rubbed a speck of dirt off his armor. "The scouts claim that he was last seen flying fifty leagues south of here two days ago. I want to believe he has not abandoned this wood yet."

"I've been meaning to ask…" Carlisle murmured after choking down more of his dinner. "What's a dragon doing out this way anyhow? I thought the dragons had long abandoned the Emberknoll Wood."

To that, Radley slowly looked up and cast a steely, knowing glare into the forest. "If the rumors are true… he's out here looking for the memorial."


"I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT!"

Eddy paced in a furious circle, openly confusing an ever-blissful Ed, mostly unnoticed by a mortified Edd. All the while, the trio's de facto leader continued to shout, "I knew getting suckered into your fantasy game would land me in something like this!"

"Eddy, you say that as if serendipitous teleportation to another planet is the next logical step after engaging in a tabletop roleplaying game!" Edd choked up incredulously.

"After all that talk last night about traveling to a magical alternate universe?! Yeah, it might as well be!" Eddy retorted, throwing his hands up. "Well, I hope you're happy, 'cause here we are! Lost in the middle of some enchanted forest on the other side of reality! Good luck finding someone to help us get home now!"

"Please!" Edd irately interjected. "This revelation is stressful enough without you ranting about the irony in our situation! Is it too much to ask that I be given a moment to deliberate without being yelled at?!"

"Hey, sorry for being freaked out in my own way!" Eddy snapped, bringing himself to a halt and scowling directly at Edd. "But considering I spent the whole day walking through a never-ending forest, thinking we were gonna find human civilization at one point or another, only to be told we're not even on Earth anymore, I think I have the right to be mad!"

"The right?! We're only here because you deliberately walked into portal testing grounds!"

"I wasn't the only one! Like the others were asking for it any more than I was! 'Sides, it's not my fault those maniacs at the lab didn't think to check the machines first!"

"Okay, no! I am not arguing about this right now! Screaming at each other isn't going to alleviate matters!"

"Then what are we supposed to do?!"

"I don't know!"

"You don't know?! That's all you have to say for yourself?! How are we supposed to find our way out of here?! How do we know we're not alone out here?! How the heck are we supposed to get home?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"STOP IT!" A small rock flew through the open space that separated Edd and Eddy. Startled by the projectile, they both turned and met a stern-faced and visibly upset Ed. "Stop fighting! The party has enough to battle without infighting!"

"Ed, don't call us the 'party!'" Eddy protested. "This isn't one of your stupid games!"

"Don't you sass me, boy! Now go to your room!"

"MY ROOM IS IN ANOTHER DIMENSION!"

"Eddy…"

The attention turned back to Edd, still clearly scared out of his wits but looking and sounding significantly calmer. "Ed… Ed is right. We're not going to survive out here if we spend our journey at each other's throats."

"Thank you very much," Ed grunted proudly. Eddy simply responded with folded arms and a low huff.

"But Eddy makes a fair point as well, Ed," Edd continued. "This isn't a game. We are very much lost in alien territory, and now that we have a greater understanding of how separated we are from the world we know, our trials will undoubtedly prove to possess an even greater risk than we had initially anticipated."

Ed sadly stared back at Edd, the severity of the situation apparently sinking in for the big lug as he slowly nodded. Eddy's shoulders drooped while his glare softened into a slightly miffed, slightly worried frown.

"I won't lie to you fellows… I'm terrified." Edd gazed out at the sprawling, moonlit forest. "I can't begin to imagine what we may encounter as we continue. I don't know what our chances are at a safe and timely return to our own realm."

His eyes then flicked back to his companions. "But you said it yourself, Eddy. We're a team. And the only way we'll have even the slightest chance at survival is if we act like one. So… I apologize for yelling. I understand that you're stressed. I can sympathize. The fact of the matter is that we're here, and I'm willing to overlook the factors that resulted in our voyage for the sake of seeing it through here and now."

"Yeah…" Eddy sighed, looking up at Edd with a mix of exhaustion and admission. "'m sorry too. Guess we'll just… have to keep looking around here and see if we can't find a way out."

Ed perked up just enough to offer his pals a warm, encouraging smile. "We'll be okay. All roads lead to home, don't they?"

"That is how the saying goes…" Edd breathed, mustering his own half-hearted smile in return. He wanted to agree with that sentiment, but the numerous variables and concerns tumbling around in his head prevented him from fully embracing Ed's optimistic view. At the very least, he certainly appreciated it.

Eddy shrugged and put on a smirk himself. "Yeah. I mean… this place doesn't look too different from Earth. How bad could it be? If the worst thing that happens to us is a few bug bites, this might turn out alright."

"Perhaps…" Edd looked to the sky, staring into the bronze glow of the second moon. "For now, we really should try to get some sleep. Our potentially perilous journey will be less strenuous after a moment's rest."

"The headache I'm bound to get from sleeping on this rock sure as heck ain't gonna make it easier," Eddy grumbled as he slowly lowered himself back into a reclining position on the stone surface. "But whatever. Too tired to find something better. G'night."

"Sleep tight, my friends," Ed mused with a chipper grin. "Adventure awaits us at dawn."

"It certainly does, Ed…" Edd yawned, smiling back at Ed before laying down against the cliff face. "Please don't feel inclined to stay up all night. You need rest too. When you feel you've had enough, don't hesitate to awaken one of us and let us stand vigil."

"Okie-dokie, Double D."

"Good night, Ed…"

"Nighty-night. Don't let the bedbugs bite."

"A little late for that, Lumpy."

Merely responding to Eddy's half-conscious quip with an airy snort, Edd curled up just tight enough to hopefully keep warm and let his eyelids slip shut. Still, his brain refused to settle. The nighttime ambiance made him question the nature of the local fauna. The vastness of the forest threatened a long and arduous voyage with no promise of an end. Their present location prompted him to question once more if the other Peach Creek kids had been transported to this same world. He subconsciously remained aware of the twin moons staring down at them from above, serving as a constant reminder that a vast cosmos separated the Eds from their home.

Despite these fears and more that plagued his psyche, Edd did eventually succumb to his exhaustion, falling asleep within the hour. Eddy, having evidently tuckered himself out with his tantrum, quietly snoozed next to him, while Ed sat nearby in a blissful hush, plunging their little safe haven into peaceful silence. And as the Eds slipped away into this pocket of respite, lost to this strange new world, the same question lingered over each of them, bouncing around in their heads, echoing in their dreams, tugging at their wandering hearts and minds.

Where were they…?