Author's Notes: Okay. There is something stupidly funny in this fic. Or else just plain stupid. But don't flame me for it. I dont' feel altogether gothic today... I'll do gothic in the next chapter, so there! *Grins*

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Amanda's grunted in her strain, dragging the unconscious body of the wraith man into the trees. It wasn't safe there where she was, for although it was hidden in the trees by the river, there were plenty of youngsters and older individuals like herself who felt it amusing to party, hidden in the forests of the night.

There was a gentle slope. She didn't see it coming but felt it as she lost her grip on his claw and fell backwards, rolling end over end before she smacked shoulder-first into the concrete wall that served as the river's dam.

Stars exploded in her vision. When she shook it off, her ankle was throbbing and the back of her head felt strangely moist.

Most intelligent, she commended bitterly to herself. She checked the man, saw that he was alright, and pulled him down into the dry leaves and covered him with the warm cloak. Then, after ensuring his safety, she scrambled up the embankment to fetch her spellbook and what remained of her components.

She stood at the lip of the slope, staring down into the leaf-covered niche where her summoned wraith slept. She wasn't sure if it was real sleep or if it was merely an absence of life altogether. Indecisive of leaving him alone, she bent her knees and crouched, staring down as the distant sounds of car horns and squealing tires from the mainstreet wafted to her hearing.

"I hope you stay put," she said, half in threat and partially in worry. Finally she stood up, turning as she bunched her belongings into her shirt and started away to the booze bottle-shard covered path.

She barely reached the shrub-hidden mouth of the path when she saw five or so individuals coming in her direction. As expected, her heart thudded twice as fast at the sight of them and she struggled to hurry her pace and escape the path before they reached it. Unfortunately, too many drinks had passed their mouths and they spoke up, rough and unkind.

"Hey, weird girl!" a black-haired one with a badly shaven goatee cawed. "Whatcha doin' out here in the middle of our party spot? You wanna party wi' us?"

Amanda offered a tight smile. "No, thanks. I want to go home." She turned to move around him, but another one pushed into her way.

"C'mon... you sayin' bein' at home's more fun than hanging with us, baby? Give me a break!!"

"Yeah, what if I am!?" Amanda said, backing away slowly as the adrenaline began pumping. She wasn't weak. She hated to think that she was weak, and berated herself almost with psyhotic ferocity if she did not do something correctly. Now, she was about to be jumped. "Get out of my way and let me go home, dammit!!"

"No, I don't think so," the goatee man growled, dropping his bag of booze and heading toward her. Amanda turned and fled back down the path, losing her shirt with its items in a bush before she fumbled in the dark for some kind of weapon.

Her fingers closed on a thick piece of wood. She heard them come crashing through the brush and spun upwards, swinging the branch in a deadly arc to smash the first one in close range across the face. He crowed like a wounded animal, stumbling sideways into a large boulder.

Amanda pushed herself up to her feet, shrieking again with banshee-like rage as she swung blindly, seeking to break anything the stick came into contact with. But there were too many and she couldn't hit all of them at once. Soon enough one of the men grabbed her around the throat and threw her down, wresting the stick from her blistered grasp.

The man's nose gushed blood. He was one of the less fortunate who hadn't been quick enough to escape her flying weapon. Now he bent over her, growling in her face.

"You're gonna pay for the trouble you caused, bitch," he chuckled.

And choked.

He toppled off to one side, twitching. A silent assailant swept among her attackers, rendering them far more wounded than before.

The stranger dropped from a branch from above, delivering a powerful kick to a nearby teenager. The kick was enough send him crashing through the brush, smack into a tree trunk. He crouched, then sprang for a third attack. The sound of tearing fabric was what followed.

Chaos erupted. He battered them senseless and sent them running like desperate fools.

Amanda remained miraculously unharmed in the disarray. She found herself staring at the man who straightened, tattered folds of flesh silhouetted behind his ruined body. His eyes moved toward hers and he spoke again, this time flecked out in amusement.

"Don't thank me," he said coldly before stepping toward her, reaching a claw down after a moment's pause.

She stared at it, before taking it, being pulled to her feet. He handed her her cloak and she bunched it up against her chest, looking down with a dizzying sigh.

"I wonder, are all people so kind in this time period?" He dropped her hand at once, turning away from her and walking some distance down the path. He lifted a paper bag and peered at its contents before wrinkling the corners of his eyes. He tossed it aside.

"Time period...? What are you talking about?" Amanda brushed the leaves off her cloak and her shirt, peering toward him. It was difficult to see in the darkness, but the pale mist of glow in his eyes was unmistakable.

Raziel turned on his heel, closing his claws together into fists. "Is this not Nosgoth? This place...? You don't look like a normal human."

"What's a human supposed to look like, then? Glowing eyes, three-claws per hand and a bad attitude?" quipped Amanda, taking little time to bother measuring her words.

The wraith growled, lurching toward her in a threatening manner. "Girl, I don't know who you are, and in all honesty, you are in no position whatsoever to make idle insinuating comments."

Whatever. "Look...I-I'm sorry. It's just... I almost got mugged by five horny jerks and I couldn't even save myself. If it weren't for you, I would have died. And you told me not to thank you. So I'm not."

Raziel gave her a measured stare. He reached up, scratching his claws through his hair before sighing. "Did you... bring me here?"

"Yes... But it wasn't intentional. I'm not a practiced magic-user... I just... was trying to do something... I was trying to conjure a friend..."

"A friend?"

"Yeah... Nevermind. Look, it's stupid. What are we going to do?"

"Perhaps... you can help me fit in until you can work your magic to return me to Nosgoth."

Amanda snorted. "F--?! Oh.... Damn. Well, um..." She swallowed, laughed nervously. "First thing you're gonna have to do is, um... try not to kill anyone. And hide. You need clothes!"

"I don't need clothes," Raziel retorted.

"Yes, you do," she insisted as she wandered back up the path. "You'll need an identity other than Raziel... meanwhile, every night, I'll meet you out here and we'll figure out how to send you back to Schnoz Moth."

"It's... Nosgoth."

"Whatever!"