LittleMidgett; I'd never leave you hanging. Just… the people who don't like to review. I'll do tha little trick you did. And by da way, thnx for giving me my inspiration back! Keep it up!

Oh, and by the way, where I wrote 'ground' its actually meant to be the word 'wound' (when she's wrapping his head) k? K! On wiv da show!

Chapter fifteen; Bad just gets worse

Present…

Ithiell

I scanned the next area. Still nothing. I sighed heavily.

"We're coming up blank. Nothing… at all… that tells us where they went" I muttered. Jake sighed from beside me, rubbing his forehead.

"We've been at this for hours. We should've found something by now"

"The instruments are only as good as the information they receive. I can only do so much" I said, looking wearily at Jake. He sighed again and nodded.

We'd scanned the wreckage of the car, finding no signs that they had been in there when it exploded. And when we didn't see them anywhere near the wreckage, that only left two possibilities. They were either running for their lives… or they had been caught.

Jake and I had sent the others out in small groups, then took the fighter, cloaked, around the largest areas. So far, we'd turned up a couple of shoe prints, but that was it. Nothing else. We didn't even know which direction they'd be headed if they were out here.

Soon, the others came back, and from the looks on their faces as they resumed their true forms, I knew it wasn't good.

"Why can't we find them!" Amanda cried, running over and beating my shoulders. I knew she didn't think it was my fault, but I grabbed her wrists in my hands anyway.

"Mandy, we'll find them. They just couldn't have disappeared off the face of the earth. They're here somewhere, and I can assure you I won't rest until I know where they are"

"How do you know they're not already dead?" Robert muttered, and Amanda broke free of me and ran at him. Jake quickly grabbed her arm, trying to hold her back.

Then something even more amazing happened. I watched in awe as Rachel walked calmly over to Robert, looked him straight in the eye, and punched him in the face. He fell backwards, crying out more in alarm than pain. He grabbed his nose, and when he pulled his hand away to look at it I saw blood.

"What the… what was that for!" He snapped, glaring up at her. It was only then that I saw her hands were balled into tight fists, and she was shaking a little.

"Don't you ever say that again, you hear me! They're alive, and we're going to find them!"

He just stared at her in shock. As a matter of fact, so did we.

"Rachel, what…"

"They're my friends too Cassie! Even that annoying little runt Marco, all right!" She walked towards the back of the fighter, then sat down, curled her knees up against her chest, putting her head in her hands. Cassie soon went over to check on her.

I turned back to Jake, who had let go of Amanda. She picked up Tobias and went over too. I looked straight at Jake. He looked at me, then managed a small smile and nodded.

"I guess we're all in the same boat now"

"Yes. But I'm glad about that"

"Yeah, me too"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Jade

"… and I think I'm gonna choke. I'm standin in the shadows with a wedge stuck in my throat. Does it really come as a surprise, when I tell you, I don't feel good? Well nothin ever came from…" I sang away, gently stroking Marco's hair. His head was on my lap, and he was still unconscious.

This song was more of a muttering kind of song. And I was only doing it in hopes that he'd hear me and wake up himself.

We'd been taken to some sort of camp, where we'd been suspended in a glass cage. They tried to separate us, but I wouldn't let them. They didn't fight too hard, and instead left me alone with him. After all, he was unconscious.

So there we were, in something probably just big enough for us to sit side-by-side and stretch our legs in, hardly any room to stand up properly (and if you tried you had to twist your head over to the side) and no other space to move. The only air was from a small rubber-like tube that was fed through the top, and I guessed if I tried to escape they'd probably fill it will gas or something.

They hadn't 'talked' to me. Well, not really. The female had asked a few questions like 'how many of you are there?', 'what kind of technology do you have?', 'who and where is your leader?' you know, stuff like that. And I… well, let's just say that gash was now accompanied by a bruise on my left cheek, and a slightly more torn shirt.

Hey, did you really think I'd sell my friends out? Not a chance!

So… they'd stuck us both here, and left us. Underneath, I could see all these preparations or something going on. I saw weapons and other things, and them talking in their weird language. Some of them even looked up at us and smiled. I think they laughed as well. Who knew? I'd never heard any of them laugh before.

But most of my attention was on Marco and his bandages. I didn't risk taking them off, shuddering at the thought of when I'd actually touched his skull. I didn't want to do that again if I didn't have to. Plus, it could make things worse if I tried anything more. So I was trying to wake him up, that way he could morph and get rid of the damages.

I thought again, stroking the small patches of hair that weren't wrapped up. I sung a bit of Eminem, stumbling over the words, then a love song I'd heard Amanda sing a couple of times. Then, I went straight to Killing Heidi.

"I aaam, standing a lo-one, moving in shadows, nobody knows who I aaam, out on my own, and its me, but you can't see who I aaam"

I stumbled over the words, but managed to pick myself up as I went along.

I don't know if it was my extremely bad singing or just pure luck, but while I sung, Marco began to stir.

He looked up at me, letting out a small smile. Then I guess he remembered what had happened. He tried to sit up, but I held him down.

"Don't move. You've got a head injury and I don't want you to make it worse"

He gave me a strange look, but followed my advice. He touched his forehead, wincing, then took my arm and held it.

"Jade, what happened? The last thing I remember is you heading for a tree…"

"Uh… yeah, sorry about that. Guess I'm just a bad a driver as you"

"Thanks. Where are we?"

I sighed "Marco, I managed to get you out of the car before it exploded, but… I thought you were gonna die, and… I didn't see them come up… Marco, we've been captured. I'm sorry"

"The others?"

"They made it out too, but… god I'm so stupid!"

"What makes you think it's your fault?"

"I got us into this mess, that's what"

He slowly sat up, holding his head with one hand and looking around us. He looked a little dizzy for a minute, before he turned his dark eyes on me.

"Jade, did you try escaping?"

I lowered my eyes. He put a hand under my chin and forced me to look at him.

"Jade?"

"You were hurt, and if I went to fight they could have killed you, or held you for ransom. I wasn't going to let that happen" I said fiercely. To my surprise, he smiled and nodded.

"I probably would've done the same"

"Look, you'd better morph and demorph. I think it's pretty deep" I didn't tell him about the bone thing, but he understood, then morphed a dog, since it was the only thing big enough to morph in such a tight space. When he demorphed he was whole.

I put my arms around him and hugged him tightly "Now don't you ever scare me like that again"

"Only if you don't run into any more trees"

"I'll try not to"

We let go, then looked around.

"So, how do we get out of here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. This isn't ordinary glass, and the only whole I see is through that stupid tube. I'm guessing this place was built for Chanaibens, so anything we do is only going to waste our energy"

"Then I guess we've only got one option. Guards! We're willing to talk!"

"Marco! What are you doing!" I hissed.

"Jade, you're talking to the B.S artist here. I can talk my way out of anything. But just… be ready, ok?"

"Ready for…" But by then we were being winched down, towards the ground. And I could see the female Terinan wasn't far off, waiting… and smiling.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Past…

We'd retreated to the small cruiser or whatever Lowri had lent us. The thing could barely get off the ground, let alone fight. But it had space for Ithiell and Rtaia to live comfortably, as well as a decent-sized engine room and bridge, as well as a small lab.

Robert put a leg up on the very few 'chairs' on the bridge, looking outside through the view screen. Amanda sat down on the captains chair or whatever, looking like she was about to bawl. Ithiell and Rtaia were pretty quiet. As a matter of fact, so was I.

"Okay, what do we do?" Robert finally asked, breaking the silence, as well as the sullen mood that had fallen over all of us.

"I am not sure. I have… never encountered anything like this before" Ithiell said quietly, keeping his hands busy by opening a small panel to the right of us, fiddling around with whatever was inside.

"You still have much to learn, young Ithiell. You have not seen war as I have, and I do know what this is" Rtaia said, and in an instant four sets of eyes were all on her.

"Rtaia…"

"Come, sit close. There is much to be explained" S

So we did, and she sighed sadly. Another thing I didn't think aliens could do.

"Almost two earth years ago, we encountered a race on one of the farthest edges of our galaxy. They had very weak skin, and a poor skeletal structure, making them vulnerable to even the smallest taps to the skin. So, they had created a medicine in a sense, that could heal fatal wounds and internal injuries. Yet, sadly, their race was yet dying out. They had decided to stop trying to prevent their demise, and entrusted the potion to another race, a 'cousin' species, in a sense. We have not heard from them since"

"Oh that is so sad" Amanda said, a hand over her mouth and barely holding back tears. Robert snorted.

"Yeah, whatever. What I want to know is if they died out, then how the heck did the Terinans get it?"

"Simple. They stole it from the second race" I said, giving him an extra glare just for Amanda.

"Maybe not the actual medicine, but perhaps the ingredients and procedure to mix them" Ithiell said, thinking hard.

"There is one more thing that bothers me. It was… only meant to heal in a small sense. The Terinans seemed to have increased the potency somehow, either this or they are drinking the medicine in large quantities" Rtaia said. Ithiell nodded.

"It seems that way. So… I suggest we get a sample for chemical analysis"

"Okay, and where exactly are we gonna get that?" I asked, folding my arms in front of me. Ithiell looked at me and did the creepy smile thing again.

"I believe I know a way"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Ok, I think I see it"

"It looks a little rotten. Urgh"

"I know, but it's the only thing we can get without attracting attention"

"Yeah, but still… yuk"

Amanda and I were hiding in the thick bushes, on our bellies, near the graveyard. Apparently the Terinans thought this was a good place to set up camp. So, we were staring at the arm Ithiell had ripped off, which was still there amazingly, and close to where we were on the ground.

"You get it. I'm not touching that thing!"

"Me! Why do I have to get it!" I hissed.

"Because you're braver than I am"

"Well… you're good with animals, you get it"

"Animals, yes. Big ugly… rotten… arms from big ugly, stinky aliens? No way"

"Chicken" I muttered, then crawled on my belly towards where it was. I suddenly realised it was further away than I thought.

"Damn. Amanda, get ready to run. Go wolf or something" I muttered, shifting to Rtaia's form and hoping I didn't get caught.

(All right. But… one question?)

(What?)

(Why couldn't Robert do this!)

(Because Ithiell needs him back there you twit, and by the way, we probably won't be noticed as much as an ugly boy like Robert will be)

(Nice Jade. Very mature)

(So says the girl who chickened out)

(Just go will ya!)

(All right, all right! Don't get your nickers in a knot) I mumbled, then continued to crawl towards the arm, feeling sick already from the stench. It was then I realised Chanaibens have an amazing sense of smell. Very highly developed.

I moved closer… closer… hoped my colouring wouldn't make me stand out like a sore thumb… close… very close…almost…

"Screeennaaaaaaaii!" Came the scream, and my head bolted up to see about four Terinans coming at me. I jumped up, grabbed the arm, and ran on different kind of legs, straight where I knew Amanda was hiding.

(Here! Take it!) I threw it in her direction as I saw her. It rolled just under the tree she was hiding under.

(But I'm not…)

(Just do it! I'll lead them away!) I sped off, hoping she'd take it and run… hoping the four Terinans on my tail didn't go after her instead of me…

Thankfully, they didn't. And now, instead of four, there were about nine or so. So I saw over my shoulder. I smelled them too. Poor Ithiell and Rtaia. They stunk!

I dropped onto all fours, suddenly running like a cheetah. I was fast! I was agile! I had endurance! I…

I just ran over a cliff.

(Ahhh!) I screamed, windmilling my arms and legs like a cartoon character, then twisting my body as I fell downwards, managing to catch a part of the cliff with one claw.

I was falling again! I desperately tried to grab hold of something…anything! I couldn't… the cliff was too smooth…

My claws were red raw and bloody by the time they caught a groove in the surface. I hung on, then dug my other clawed hand and both feet into the surface, desperately trying to keep hold of it. I looked up…

And saw the Terinans looking down at me. Then… they started climbing down!

(Aw crap) I muttered, then shook my head and realised I still had one option left. But I'd have to be super quick. I looked up again, seeing the ones on the cliff were suddenly very angry.

"You can climb, but can you do this?" I said with what was left of my quickly changing mouth. When I was ready I let go of the cliff…

And spread my wings, soaring off into the distance. Now that I'd ticked them off something bad.

I just hoped Amanda had better luck than I did.