Author's note: From now on, the two groups will get separate sections, sort of like two chapters in one. Or two half-chapters in one. --'''
Chapter 18--Wanderers and Warriors
It could not be said that Joey and Tristan were lost; they had had no idea where they were when they set out, and they had no idea where they were going in the first place, so lost did not really sum up their predicament. It would be more accurate to say that they were hopelessly, aimlessly wandering, going somewhere fast, but having no idea what that somewhere was or when they would reach it. Not only that, they were rapidly running out of time. They had less than a week left to find the Key and get home before their absence would become suspicious. To top it off, they had just entered a stretch of dreary, swampy territory so hazy they could see little more than a few feet in front of them. This did nothing to improve their moral.
"Ow! Dat's the second time in five minutes dat I stepped on one of dose spike things--thorns," Joey growled in exasperation; he wanted to do something, not just travel and travel without ever getting anywhere.
"How can you tell it's been five minutes?" Tristan wearily replied. "My watch stopped from getting soaked in swamp gunk."
"How are we supposed to find dose Clanners if we don' even know where ta look?" Joey said loudly, becoming increasingly frustrated as time passed, seemingly without them making any progress.
There was a momentary pause while Tristan thought about this. "The way I see it, we're bound to accidentally enter some Clanner territory. Then we can ask for directions. How about that?"
"Oh, that's a great plan," Joey said sarcastically, "just as long as they don't kill us!"
"Hey, there's nothing else we can do!" Tristan snapped back.
Sighing, the two weary travelers continued, neither in the best of spirits. As it happened, however, the plan was a good one. The Clanns were amazingly (some might say obsessively) vigilant for intruders, and one had already spotted them. They were already sending scouts to alert their Chieftenn. The two within the swamp, however, had no knowledge of this.
"Ah! I'm stuck! We're never gonna get outta of here!" Joey wailed miserably. He didn't mind getting hurt in a fight, but being stratched, bruised, and throughly exhausted without being able to do anything about it bothered him.
"We may as well keep going; it's not like we have any chance of getting back," Tristan said in a monotone, equally miserable.
"If I evah need motivational advice, remind me not ta ask you," Joey grumbled, finally freeing himself from the clinging nettles.
"Hey, I'm just trying to help!" Tristan replied, carefully avoiding the thorny patch that had given Joey trouble.
At that moment, both of them unwittingly walked into a patch of bog, lost their balance, fell, and promptly began sinking. This was not due so much to the bog as to the fact that creatures within the bogs enjoy fresh meat, since they so rarely taste it.
A serpentine head arose from the far end of the bog. Unfortunately for Joey and Tristan, it was attached to the claws that were pulling them under the bog's surface. Leering balefully at them, it spoke in a hissing whisper. "Sssstrangersss, you have tressspassed on my land.....and now you will pay....the pricccce!" It moved its head closer. "But....are they even worthhh....the effort? I do not know...but....fressssh meat is sssso rare.....one cannot ignore it.....when it offersss itssself up sssso willingly.....bessidesss....I cannot allow two tressspasserssss.....to roam freely...yessss.....I am afraid you musssst.....die......"
Joey and Tristan naturally did not take kindly to this suggestion.
"What!? No! No way! We're not trespassers, let us go!"
"Wait!" Joey shouted, suddenly struck by an idea. He clenched his teeth, concentrating hard--everything depended on speed now. "I Summon Copycat! Copycat, transform into...uh...fire!"
This plan, although frantic (and nearly impossible), was carried out by Joey's faithful (and highly intelligent, luckily for them) Copycat, who turned into a Flame Manipulator it had once met in the Shadow Realm.
The serpent fled in the face of the fire it detested, leaving Joey and Tristan to struggle out of the swamp ("Copycat, be a rope!"). When they reached dry land, however, they found themselves surrounded by a group of angry Clanners. The most common tattoo was what looked like black fire on the left cheek, while the leader of the party also bore a long black stripe down his nose. The did not look pleased.
"Humans, you trespass on our land. Ordinarily, we would kill you now, but you appear to have magic; you are Outworlders. Come with us; we will take you to our Chieftenn."
Joey and Tristan had little choice; in the face of the various short swords and daggers born by the scouting party, they followed them with alacrity.
"Well," muttered Tristan, "at least we found them."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
If Joey and Tristan were having trouble reaching their destination, this was nothing compared to the problems harbored by their fellow searchers, Kaiba and Tea. Although they were traveling rapidly, and had some idea where they were going (Frith and Windpaw could sense the Seal of Light), they hated each other so intensely that their journey was altogether miserable. Neither of them would have minded traveling with almost anyone else. Only the two hares, which continued to move forward, did not seem hostile. Oddly enough, they did not argue; as far as they were concerned, there was no point.
Mile after mile they walked, still following Frith and Windpaw. To an outsider, it would have looked bizarre; two silent humans following two hares into a seemingly empty mountain wilderness. They were indeed returning to the mountains, and it was again growing cold, but Tea's confidence in Windpaw and Frith (and Kaiba's stubborn refusal to speak at all, even to suggest that they were hopelessly lost) made them continue walking toward what was probably north. Darkness fell, and visibility grew poor, but still they walked. Whether this was because they wanted to find the Seal of Light quickly, or because neither wanted to be the first to suggest that they stop, was anyone's guess.
Finally, when Tea could no longer see her hands two inches in front of her face, she muttered, "Oh, this is getting ridiculous," and shouted, "Kaiba, we have to stop! We're just going to get lost in the dark!"
This was the start of an argument which, unlike past debates between the entire, four-person group, was incredibly vicious, although it looked more civil.
"Why? You'd rather freeze in one place?" Kaiba said, sneering at her.
"What's the point of getting lost? We can't see where we're going in the dark!" Tea protested, trying to keep calm.
"We don't have to; we're following two rabbits, who apparently know where they're going through ESP. What more direction could we possibly need?" Kaiba replied sarcastically; he had always been a very factual person, so he was still getting used to magic and was inclined to be skeptical.
"It's not ESP, it's magic! And they know exactly where we're going!" Tea shouted, glaring at him fiercely, her resolve not to let her temper get out of control gone.
"Which is where? All they supposedly know is where the Seal of Light is--assuming it really exists and this isn't some crazy wild goose chase," Kaiba said at once, easily maintaining his usual cold exterior.
"You are so cynical! Why would the Clanners lie to us?" Tea demanded, hoping to end their argument so they could find some shelter.
Despite the truth in this statement, and the fact that he knew it was true, Kaiba decided to argue with it anyway. "Why not?"
"You're just being stubborn!" Tea accused him, feeling more annoyed by the minute at the young CEO's complete refusal to trust anything.
"You have too much faith in a group of psychotic, tattooed strangers who threaten to kill you as soon as they see you," Kaiba said patronizingly, not bothered by having someone shout at him; being in charge of a business had made him used to this sort of thing.
"They tried to help us! They saved your life!"
"And that matters how?"
Tea was getting exasperated. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"
At this moment, their pointless argument was interrupted (some people might say, luckily interrupted). "Oh? Argying? Lost inna blizzid onna mounting at night? Bad-dangerous! Why yous 'ere, eh?"
They both spun around. Hanging upside down off an outcropping above them was a bizarre-looking girl. The thing that was most obvious were her long, fox-like ears; her tail also suck out. Looking more closely, they saw that creamy tan fur stuck out of her clothing. She was small and wiry, and appeared completely concerned with their absolute shock in seeing her.
She dropped down and landed on her feet, giggling. "Oh? Tongues bees all tied? Well, 'urry up an' tell me why yous're 'ere! Me's hasn' got all night, y'know, an' yous hasn' said anyfing all day. Me was foll'in you, me oughta know! Me thought maybe you couldn' talk or somefing, but yous shouted lot a lot a minute ago. What'sa matter? Not bein' all quiet again, is yous? Yeeheehee!"
They continued to stare, speechless, at the strange part-human giggling and turning cartwheels in front of them. Finally, Tea sputtered, "But--but--what are you? And what are you doing here?"
The girl giggled again. "Me? Me's all alone! Me Lona 'cause I live by m'self up inna mounting!" She leaned closer, whispering confidentially. "Theys all thinks me's dead, y'know. Thought it was a sure fing, blood eveywhere, big cut onna me head--but me made it! Now me hides. Half- breeds like me gotta do that, but me's the only one here!"
She grinned dementedly and held up a small, well-worn hand lantern. She squinted at it, and it burst into flame. In its flickering light, they saw for the first time that she had a long, deep scar between her ears. It looked as though someone had hit her over the head with an axe; feeling sick, Tea suddenly realized that, judging from what she said, that was most likely what had happened.
Lona, not noticing the look on her face, smiled at her. "Shouldn' be 'ere s'all dark an scary, gotta rest 'till itsa mornin'! Heeheehee! Gotta sleepy sleep, then inna morning you notta know what 'appens at nighty-time! Heeheehee! Aren't ya scared a the dark? Lotsa bad things hide inna dark! Yeeheehee! Gotta run, hide, be real real fast, get away fromma shadow- people, wanna eat me inside! Wanna keep you's inside-mind, dontcha? Dontcha?"
Realizing that inside-mind meant soul, Tea said, "Who eats souls? Why do we have to hide?"
Lona opened her mouth wide in a smile that showed sharp, pointed teeth stained with what Tea could only hope was not blood. "Yeeheehee! Lona 'ide, Lona not get caughted, Lona wake up inna morning and all theys bad shadow-people goes away, then me's all safey safe 'till night-time again! Lona makes it--you not gonna! Yeeheehee!"
Kaiba, finally recovering from the shock of seeing a half-cat girl who kept laughing and telling them they were going to die, whispered to Tea, "She is crazy! Look at her!"
Lona, her hearing far sharper than a normal human's, caught this remark. "Yup yup! Lona's crazy, but Lona's still breavin', and you's not gonna be 'round much longer, 'cause the nasty nasty shadow-people wantsa get you! Lona gotta stay onna mounting, she's a half-breed! Yeeheehee! They's all gone now, Lona's not, they's not half-breeds, Lona's all alone now, but Lona's okay, me's okay, me stay away fromma nasty shadow-people! Yeeheehee! Me not needa dead-people, Lona not need nuffin, Lona's okay wivout da dead-risers! Yeeheehee!"
Tea stared blankly, but Kaiba, having waved aside the fact that Lona was part cat and insane for the moment, said, "You mean--the Necro Clann! The dead-risers! The shadow-people...that can only mean..."
Now Tea caught on too. "Chaos! The Chaos beings who attacked us last time, at the fortress! Wait--if she was one of Necro Clann....what's she doing here? And...why does she have fur? She can't be a Clanner."
Lona looked at them seriously. "Not 'apposed to talka 'bout Lona, not 'apposed to say 'er name, Lona 'apposed to be deaded! But Lona not deaded! Yeeheehee! Me a half-breed, me parents all stoned-stoned, blood eveywhere, yeeheehee! Lona's okay wivout da dead-risers, they not want Lona, Lona not want them, Lona's parents not dead-risers, Lona's parents not same, me a half-breed! Yeeheehee! Me not need the dead-risers, they not want Lona, but they gonna make you deaded! Watcha you out for the dead- risers, they gonna make you deaded! Yeeheehee! Dead-risers coming, you can't fight 'em, they make you deaded! Lona okay, can't make Lona deaded wiv a big shiny steel! Yeeheehee! Lona's okay, me okay!"
Tea slowly began working out Lona's story from her baby-talk and ill- use of pronouns. "Her parents weren't Necro Clanners? They must have come from some other World or something, and asked the Necro Clann for help...they were two different species, so she's a half-breed, but the Necro Clann didn't like that, so they tried to kill her...and...they want to kill us? Is that right, Lona?"
Lona gave an exaggerated nod. "Yup yup, atsa right, Lona not deaded, me a half-breed, dead-risers wanna make you deaded, you not make it, Lona did, you not gonna, you's all losted, rabbits not know where dead-risers live, you walks into 'em an' they makes you deaded! Me know eveyfing abouta mounting, me 'elp you, Lona 'elp you, me not let 'em make you deaded! Yeeheehee, they couldn' make me deaded, couldn' get Lona! Yeeheehee!"
Tea and Kaiba stared at her. Finally, the silence was broken by an incredulous (and consequently sarcastic) Kaiba. "Oh, that's just great. Now that we have a crazy half-breed psychopath to help us, we can't possibly go wrong. Perfect!"
Lona seemed to miss the sarcasm. She stopped giggling and nodded eagerly. "Yup yup! Lona 'elp you, Lona not deaded, they try ta make 'er deaded, they not get me, me 'elp you, you 'elp me, take me wiv you, yeh? Yeh? Lona wantsa go wiv you, Lona 'elp you, me 'elp you, you sees, Lona not deaded, please a please, Lona wantsa come, me wantsa come wiv you!" She looked up at them pitifully. "Lona smart, me smart, me c'n 'elp you, Lona knows a lotta stuff." She sniffed at them. "Lona knows, me knows, you 'ave drakky-light, real real bright, lotsa light in you!" She turned to Tea. "An' you gotta moon-dark light, lotsa bright-dark, little Seer, but thatsa moon-dark thing, doesn' tella footure, but you knows when you's frens is in troubba, needa you's 'elp. Lona knows, me sees, me c'n 'elp you, Lona 'elp!"
This prompted more stares. Finally, Tea said, "You can...smell...our magic?"
Lona laughed raucously, rolling about on the ground. "No no, me no smell, justa see ifa you smell like dead-risers or steel-masters, me sees, Lona sees you's bright-fire, all inside, me sees it, 'cause me a half- breed, Lona sees the inside-fire. Lona wantsa come, me come wiv you, yeh?"
Tail waving, she crouched on all fours, looking up at them hopefully. Tea was about to suggest that they could not bring Lona with them, since they were about to do something incredibly dangerous, when to her total surprise, Kaiba agreed.
"....all right. You can come with us."
Lona leaped up happily, standing in a half-crouch with her hands in front of her chest, still holding her latern. "Me alla lone, nobody like Lona 'cause me a half-breed, but you look out fa me, drakky-fire, kin-sign, you look out fa me, yeh? Don't travva no more today, stoppa stop, can'ta go aroun' wivva inside-mind eaters, make you deaded inside, worsen' stop breavin'. You stoppa stop, Lona knows, me 'elp you."
They did indeed stop, Lona sitting on a boulder like a guard dog while the two exhausted travelers and their guides collapsed into sleep immediately. Just before she slept, Tea wondered...why had Lona asked to come with them? And why had Kaiba, of all people, agreed?
Chapter 18--Wanderers and Warriors
It could not be said that Joey and Tristan were lost; they had had no idea where they were when they set out, and they had no idea where they were going in the first place, so lost did not really sum up their predicament. It would be more accurate to say that they were hopelessly, aimlessly wandering, going somewhere fast, but having no idea what that somewhere was or when they would reach it. Not only that, they were rapidly running out of time. They had less than a week left to find the Key and get home before their absence would become suspicious. To top it off, they had just entered a stretch of dreary, swampy territory so hazy they could see little more than a few feet in front of them. This did nothing to improve their moral.
"Ow! Dat's the second time in five minutes dat I stepped on one of dose spike things--thorns," Joey growled in exasperation; he wanted to do something, not just travel and travel without ever getting anywhere.
"How can you tell it's been five minutes?" Tristan wearily replied. "My watch stopped from getting soaked in swamp gunk."
"How are we supposed to find dose Clanners if we don' even know where ta look?" Joey said loudly, becoming increasingly frustrated as time passed, seemingly without them making any progress.
There was a momentary pause while Tristan thought about this. "The way I see it, we're bound to accidentally enter some Clanner territory. Then we can ask for directions. How about that?"
"Oh, that's a great plan," Joey said sarcastically, "just as long as they don't kill us!"
"Hey, there's nothing else we can do!" Tristan snapped back.
Sighing, the two weary travelers continued, neither in the best of spirits. As it happened, however, the plan was a good one. The Clanns were amazingly (some might say obsessively) vigilant for intruders, and one had already spotted them. They were already sending scouts to alert their Chieftenn. The two within the swamp, however, had no knowledge of this.
"Ah! I'm stuck! We're never gonna get outta of here!" Joey wailed miserably. He didn't mind getting hurt in a fight, but being stratched, bruised, and throughly exhausted without being able to do anything about it bothered him.
"We may as well keep going; it's not like we have any chance of getting back," Tristan said in a monotone, equally miserable.
"If I evah need motivational advice, remind me not ta ask you," Joey grumbled, finally freeing himself from the clinging nettles.
"Hey, I'm just trying to help!" Tristan replied, carefully avoiding the thorny patch that had given Joey trouble.
At that moment, both of them unwittingly walked into a patch of bog, lost their balance, fell, and promptly began sinking. This was not due so much to the bog as to the fact that creatures within the bogs enjoy fresh meat, since they so rarely taste it.
A serpentine head arose from the far end of the bog. Unfortunately for Joey and Tristan, it was attached to the claws that were pulling them under the bog's surface. Leering balefully at them, it spoke in a hissing whisper. "Sssstrangersss, you have tressspassed on my land.....and now you will pay....the pricccce!" It moved its head closer. "But....are they even worthhh....the effort? I do not know...but....fressssh meat is sssso rare.....one cannot ignore it.....when it offersss itssself up sssso willingly.....bessidesss....I cannot allow two tressspasserssss.....to roam freely...yessss.....I am afraid you musssst.....die......"
Joey and Tristan naturally did not take kindly to this suggestion.
"What!? No! No way! We're not trespassers, let us go!"
"Wait!" Joey shouted, suddenly struck by an idea. He clenched his teeth, concentrating hard--everything depended on speed now. "I Summon Copycat! Copycat, transform into...uh...fire!"
This plan, although frantic (and nearly impossible), was carried out by Joey's faithful (and highly intelligent, luckily for them) Copycat, who turned into a Flame Manipulator it had once met in the Shadow Realm.
The serpent fled in the face of the fire it detested, leaving Joey and Tristan to struggle out of the swamp ("Copycat, be a rope!"). When they reached dry land, however, they found themselves surrounded by a group of angry Clanners. The most common tattoo was what looked like black fire on the left cheek, while the leader of the party also bore a long black stripe down his nose. The did not look pleased.
"Humans, you trespass on our land. Ordinarily, we would kill you now, but you appear to have magic; you are Outworlders. Come with us; we will take you to our Chieftenn."
Joey and Tristan had little choice; in the face of the various short swords and daggers born by the scouting party, they followed them with alacrity.
"Well," muttered Tristan, "at least we found them."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
If Joey and Tristan were having trouble reaching their destination, this was nothing compared to the problems harbored by their fellow searchers, Kaiba and Tea. Although they were traveling rapidly, and had some idea where they were going (Frith and Windpaw could sense the Seal of Light), they hated each other so intensely that their journey was altogether miserable. Neither of them would have minded traveling with almost anyone else. Only the two hares, which continued to move forward, did not seem hostile. Oddly enough, they did not argue; as far as they were concerned, there was no point.
Mile after mile they walked, still following Frith and Windpaw. To an outsider, it would have looked bizarre; two silent humans following two hares into a seemingly empty mountain wilderness. They were indeed returning to the mountains, and it was again growing cold, but Tea's confidence in Windpaw and Frith (and Kaiba's stubborn refusal to speak at all, even to suggest that they were hopelessly lost) made them continue walking toward what was probably north. Darkness fell, and visibility grew poor, but still they walked. Whether this was because they wanted to find the Seal of Light quickly, or because neither wanted to be the first to suggest that they stop, was anyone's guess.
Finally, when Tea could no longer see her hands two inches in front of her face, she muttered, "Oh, this is getting ridiculous," and shouted, "Kaiba, we have to stop! We're just going to get lost in the dark!"
This was the start of an argument which, unlike past debates between the entire, four-person group, was incredibly vicious, although it looked more civil.
"Why? You'd rather freeze in one place?" Kaiba said, sneering at her.
"What's the point of getting lost? We can't see where we're going in the dark!" Tea protested, trying to keep calm.
"We don't have to; we're following two rabbits, who apparently know where they're going through ESP. What more direction could we possibly need?" Kaiba replied sarcastically; he had always been a very factual person, so he was still getting used to magic and was inclined to be skeptical.
"It's not ESP, it's magic! And they know exactly where we're going!" Tea shouted, glaring at him fiercely, her resolve not to let her temper get out of control gone.
"Which is where? All they supposedly know is where the Seal of Light is--assuming it really exists and this isn't some crazy wild goose chase," Kaiba said at once, easily maintaining his usual cold exterior.
"You are so cynical! Why would the Clanners lie to us?" Tea demanded, hoping to end their argument so they could find some shelter.
Despite the truth in this statement, and the fact that he knew it was true, Kaiba decided to argue with it anyway. "Why not?"
"You're just being stubborn!" Tea accused him, feeling more annoyed by the minute at the young CEO's complete refusal to trust anything.
"You have too much faith in a group of psychotic, tattooed strangers who threaten to kill you as soon as they see you," Kaiba said patronizingly, not bothered by having someone shout at him; being in charge of a business had made him used to this sort of thing.
"They tried to help us! They saved your life!"
"And that matters how?"
Tea was getting exasperated. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"
At this moment, their pointless argument was interrupted (some people might say, luckily interrupted). "Oh? Argying? Lost inna blizzid onna mounting at night? Bad-dangerous! Why yous 'ere, eh?"
They both spun around. Hanging upside down off an outcropping above them was a bizarre-looking girl. The thing that was most obvious were her long, fox-like ears; her tail also suck out. Looking more closely, they saw that creamy tan fur stuck out of her clothing. She was small and wiry, and appeared completely concerned with their absolute shock in seeing her.
She dropped down and landed on her feet, giggling. "Oh? Tongues bees all tied? Well, 'urry up an' tell me why yous're 'ere! Me's hasn' got all night, y'know, an' yous hasn' said anyfing all day. Me was foll'in you, me oughta know! Me thought maybe you couldn' talk or somefing, but yous shouted lot a lot a minute ago. What'sa matter? Not bein' all quiet again, is yous? Yeeheehee!"
They continued to stare, speechless, at the strange part-human giggling and turning cartwheels in front of them. Finally, Tea sputtered, "But--but--what are you? And what are you doing here?"
The girl giggled again. "Me? Me's all alone! Me Lona 'cause I live by m'self up inna mounting!" She leaned closer, whispering confidentially. "Theys all thinks me's dead, y'know. Thought it was a sure fing, blood eveywhere, big cut onna me head--but me made it! Now me hides. Half- breeds like me gotta do that, but me's the only one here!"
She grinned dementedly and held up a small, well-worn hand lantern. She squinted at it, and it burst into flame. In its flickering light, they saw for the first time that she had a long, deep scar between her ears. It looked as though someone had hit her over the head with an axe; feeling sick, Tea suddenly realized that, judging from what she said, that was most likely what had happened.
Lona, not noticing the look on her face, smiled at her. "Shouldn' be 'ere s'all dark an scary, gotta rest 'till itsa mornin'! Heeheehee! Gotta sleepy sleep, then inna morning you notta know what 'appens at nighty-time! Heeheehee! Aren't ya scared a the dark? Lotsa bad things hide inna dark! Yeeheehee! Gotta run, hide, be real real fast, get away fromma shadow- people, wanna eat me inside! Wanna keep you's inside-mind, dontcha? Dontcha?"
Realizing that inside-mind meant soul, Tea said, "Who eats souls? Why do we have to hide?"
Lona opened her mouth wide in a smile that showed sharp, pointed teeth stained with what Tea could only hope was not blood. "Yeeheehee! Lona 'ide, Lona not get caughted, Lona wake up inna morning and all theys bad shadow-people goes away, then me's all safey safe 'till night-time again! Lona makes it--you not gonna! Yeeheehee!"
Kaiba, finally recovering from the shock of seeing a half-cat girl who kept laughing and telling them they were going to die, whispered to Tea, "She is crazy! Look at her!"
Lona, her hearing far sharper than a normal human's, caught this remark. "Yup yup! Lona's crazy, but Lona's still breavin', and you's not gonna be 'round much longer, 'cause the nasty nasty shadow-people wantsa get you! Lona gotta stay onna mounting, she's a half-breed! Yeeheehee! They's all gone now, Lona's not, they's not half-breeds, Lona's all alone now, but Lona's okay, me's okay, me stay away fromma nasty shadow-people! Yeeheehee! Me not needa dead-people, Lona not need nuffin, Lona's okay wivout da dead-risers! Yeeheehee!"
Tea stared blankly, but Kaiba, having waved aside the fact that Lona was part cat and insane for the moment, said, "You mean--the Necro Clann! The dead-risers! The shadow-people...that can only mean..."
Now Tea caught on too. "Chaos! The Chaos beings who attacked us last time, at the fortress! Wait--if she was one of Necro Clann....what's she doing here? And...why does she have fur? She can't be a Clanner."
Lona looked at them seriously. "Not 'apposed to talka 'bout Lona, not 'apposed to say 'er name, Lona 'apposed to be deaded! But Lona not deaded! Yeeheehee! Me a half-breed, me parents all stoned-stoned, blood eveywhere, yeeheehee! Lona's okay wivout da dead-risers, they not want Lona, Lona not want them, Lona's parents not dead-risers, Lona's parents not same, me a half-breed! Yeeheehee! Me not need the dead-risers, they not want Lona, but they gonna make you deaded! Watcha you out for the dead- risers, they gonna make you deaded! Yeeheehee! Dead-risers coming, you can't fight 'em, they make you deaded! Lona okay, can't make Lona deaded wiv a big shiny steel! Yeeheehee! Lona's okay, me okay!"
Tea slowly began working out Lona's story from her baby-talk and ill- use of pronouns. "Her parents weren't Necro Clanners? They must have come from some other World or something, and asked the Necro Clann for help...they were two different species, so she's a half-breed, but the Necro Clann didn't like that, so they tried to kill her...and...they want to kill us? Is that right, Lona?"
Lona gave an exaggerated nod. "Yup yup, atsa right, Lona not deaded, me a half-breed, dead-risers wanna make you deaded, you not make it, Lona did, you not gonna, you's all losted, rabbits not know where dead-risers live, you walks into 'em an' they makes you deaded! Me know eveyfing abouta mounting, me 'elp you, Lona 'elp you, me not let 'em make you deaded! Yeeheehee, they couldn' make me deaded, couldn' get Lona! Yeeheehee!"
Tea and Kaiba stared at her. Finally, the silence was broken by an incredulous (and consequently sarcastic) Kaiba. "Oh, that's just great. Now that we have a crazy half-breed psychopath to help us, we can't possibly go wrong. Perfect!"
Lona seemed to miss the sarcasm. She stopped giggling and nodded eagerly. "Yup yup! Lona 'elp you, Lona not deaded, they try ta make 'er deaded, they not get me, me 'elp you, you 'elp me, take me wiv you, yeh? Yeh? Lona wantsa go wiv you, Lona 'elp you, me 'elp you, you sees, Lona not deaded, please a please, Lona wantsa come, me wantsa come wiv you!" She looked up at them pitifully. "Lona smart, me smart, me c'n 'elp you, Lona knows a lotta stuff." She sniffed at them. "Lona knows, me knows, you 'ave drakky-light, real real bright, lotsa light in you!" She turned to Tea. "An' you gotta moon-dark light, lotsa bright-dark, little Seer, but thatsa moon-dark thing, doesn' tella footure, but you knows when you's frens is in troubba, needa you's 'elp. Lona knows, me sees, me c'n 'elp you, Lona 'elp!"
This prompted more stares. Finally, Tea said, "You can...smell...our magic?"
Lona laughed raucously, rolling about on the ground. "No no, me no smell, justa see ifa you smell like dead-risers or steel-masters, me sees, Lona sees you's bright-fire, all inside, me sees it, 'cause me a half- breed, Lona sees the inside-fire. Lona wantsa come, me come wiv you, yeh?"
Tail waving, she crouched on all fours, looking up at them hopefully. Tea was about to suggest that they could not bring Lona with them, since they were about to do something incredibly dangerous, when to her total surprise, Kaiba agreed.
"....all right. You can come with us."
Lona leaped up happily, standing in a half-crouch with her hands in front of her chest, still holding her latern. "Me alla lone, nobody like Lona 'cause me a half-breed, but you look out fa me, drakky-fire, kin-sign, you look out fa me, yeh? Don't travva no more today, stoppa stop, can'ta go aroun' wivva inside-mind eaters, make you deaded inside, worsen' stop breavin'. You stoppa stop, Lona knows, me 'elp you."
They did indeed stop, Lona sitting on a boulder like a guard dog while the two exhausted travelers and their guides collapsed into sleep immediately. Just before she slept, Tea wondered...why had Lona asked to come with them? And why had Kaiba, of all people, agreed?
