A/N:

A nice long chapter! I hope you like it!

Butterfly Effect: the propensity of a system to be sensitive to initial conditions. Such systems over time become unpredictable, this idea gave rise to the notion of a butterfly flapping it's wings in one area of the world, causing a tornado or some such weather event to occur in another remote area of the world

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"EWW! Mr. Logan, that is so disgusting, I am not eating that." Kitty was hiding behind Scott, shielding her eyes from Mr. Logan's choice of snack.

"When you're running around in a deserted area with no people, you'll thank me for this training. These are things you need to know, half-pint."

"No offense Logan, but I'm a little grossed out too. I don't see how eating that thing is going to help us survive."

"Alright." Mr. Logan growled," If you two aren't man enough, let's see if Doolittle will do it. Doolittle?"

Uh oh.

"Uh…yeah?" I said a little weakly.

"Part of your grade." He tossed the thing he had been threatening Kitty and Scott with at me. It was a large, dead, very very dead, dragonfly. It had big green wings. I just stared at it.

"What are you waiting for? It's good for you."

"I'm sure it is sir, but I uh, like my bugs with mustard." I said, still staring at the dead bug. "Do I have to eat this? You realize this could be poisonous?"

"I've eaten enough bugs in my lifetime to know which is which, Doolittle. Nothing wrong with a little protein." He pointed at the bug, and I got the distinct impression that he was ordering me to eat it. I was considering the option of dropping the bug, running away, ultimately getting caught and having to eat five more. It paled in comparison to only eating one bug. But still.

!!!!!!!!!

"Hunh?" I jerked my head around, which was kind of useless, since I couldn't really tell where that call came from anyway.

"Doolittle, quit yer stalling. And don't even think that little 'I-hear-animals-they-need-help-bit' is gonna get you out of it. I know you."

True, he did. I made the mistake of telling him once that I take pains not to mess with habits of animals, feeding habits above all. So excusing myself to save a lizard from a monkey wasn't going to work. But…that wasn't a monkey.

"I…" I shook my head. I turned my attention back to the bug, or at least tried too. The bug looked very unappetizing.

"Don't make her eat it Logan, just the thought of it creeps me out."

"Well." Mr. Logan had a sly look on his face. "To pass my class you have to eat one. I'd have you eat more, but Chuck says I shouldn't until you're more ready. So when you're ready…" He trailed off and set of through the jungle.

"Eww…Do you think if I make a really good grade with all the other teachers I can, like, carry this failed grade?" Kitty wrinkled her nose as I dropped the bug to the ground.

"Come on, let's go back to camp. It's almost lunchtime." Scott walked in the direction that Mr. Logan had gone. Kitty and I brought up the rear.

!!!!!!!!!

What is that? I narrowed my eyes and stopped, glaring at the ground in front of me. The signal seemed to come from everywhere at once, but it came out of nowhere. Usually voices have a distinct starting point, just like voices a person hears. But this one just pops up out of nowhere and surrounds.

!!!!!!!!

Not to mention the fact that it was getting more frequent. And what kind of beast created a thought pattern like that? I concentrated on trying to find the thoughts again. I thought I came across them, but…

"Danny? Hello, earth to Danny!" Kitty waved a hand across my face. I stared at her for a moment.

"You okay?" She asked, a little worried.

"I've heard it this morning." I said a little incoherently. I was still trying to grab strands of thoughts that weren't there, or were they? They seemed to disappear and reappear with no real rhyme or reason, and I couldn't get any sort of information out of them, like it had the thoughts of a beast, but it wasn't truly the mind of a beast…

"Mabe we should go back to camp, this could be, like, Malaria!"

Like…Rahne, a little. No, it was almost exactly like Rahne.

!!!!!!!!!!!!

 "Danny!" Kitty grabbed my shoulder and yanked, breaking my concentration. Immediately, everything I had worked for to bring the thoughts into clearer focus disappeared. I seriously considered yelling at her, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. She was just worried about me.

"I'm fine. Let's go back to camp." I moved hurriedly in front of her and walked back down the path we had taken. Scott and Mr. Logan were already farther ahead.

It was so strange. When I had been concentrating, the signal seemed to almost take on a point, a point of origin, but now I couldn't even hear the signal anymore.

And I wasn't sure I wanted to anymore.

It sounded angry.

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"Ooph!" Jean groaned when Rahne accidentally kicked her in the side. Rogue was scrunched up on the other side of me and we were trying to find a place that was comfortable enough for all of us.

Jubilee will never be allowed near tent construction again. Ever. I don't know how the tent suddenly burst into flames, but I suspect fireworks had something to do with it. Now we had to cram all the girls in a tent.

We were lucky it was a big one, but still. It had not been my great ambition to be sleeping in a cramped tent with five other girls.

I found myself huddled close to the tent flap. If I curled myself up there was a good bit more room. The other girls were thankful of this, though Jean and Rahne seemed to be having a bit of a silent war for space.

When everyone got settled down and snores began floating around the tent, I found myself in fairly close quarters to Kitty, whom I could tell was watching me.

"Can't sleep?" I asked quietly.

"What was that back there? In the jungle? What did you hear?"

"It…was nothing. Just a weird thought."

Kitty scrunched her nose up, giving it a little thought. Then she shook her head. "Nope. Give me more than that."

"I keep hearing…this weird thing. It's not a voice, and it isn't quite just a cry."

"What's the difference?"

"A voice carries with it a specific thought, a meaning. A cry just gives off emotion, an animal that's in a fight will cry out if it gets hurt, just like a human does." I began playing with the edge of my sleeping bag. It felt weird, telling other people about these things. It's like trying to describe a language that only I could understand with insight I only had. Plus, people tended to look at me funny when I try to tell them what exactly an animal is thinking. Lots of stuff end up getting lost in translation.

"So what's up with this one?" She asked curiously. Great. I appealed to her curiosity, now she would never leave me alone.

"It sounds really angry, and I guess it's saying something, but I can't seem to get any sort of understanding out of it. And that's not the weird thing."

She leaned in closer, totally captivated by the mystery. "What?"

"I think…it's almost as if it's disappearing and reappearing spontaneously. The thought pattern of this…whatever it is…is choppy and it keeps on going through silent modes, then it just pops up again."

"Like phasing?" She said wonderingly.

"No…sort of, but…when you phase, you still think. When you pushed Cassius through a wall that one time, I didn't stop hearing him, which by the way, he really hated and that's why he always growls at you."

"He was trying to make off with my brownies, which I baked for you guys!"

"In which case I am grateful." That he ran off, I silently added.

"Okay, what else?"

"Nothing. That's all I know."

There was a slight bit of silence between us for a few minutes.

"Hey Kitty."

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you tell anyone about what happened?"

"Well, you like, seemed okay afterwards, and I know sometimes you just sit in your room, like, talking, and I figured it probably happens all the time!"

"Oh. Well, thanks anyway."

"Maybe we should tell them." Kitty looked really worried. "I mean, what if it's like the Juggernaut or something? It could really hurt someone."

"I haven't heard it for awhile. I think we're okay."

!!!!!!!!!

Speak of the beast.

I jerked up my head. Kitty shot up in her sleeping bag, falling onto Jean, who immediately woke up.

"What's going on?" She demanded sleepily, waking up everyone else. I kicked out of my sleeping bag and dashed out of the tent, wearing nothing but my sleeping shorts and an old blue t-shirt.

"Danny!"

!!!!!!

There, my concentration was paying off. I had a general direction. A few more minutes and I could pinpoint the cause.

Of course, a part of me was muttering something like 'really stupid idea' but if I listened to my conscience more often, then I would have never gotten into half the things I get into.

Perhaps that isn't the best argument.

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Drunk On Tang: I take it you like the story? I hope you like this chapter too!

Radical-Seto: No, I don't think Arcane will be in this one. However, I'm thinking about putting up a side story with Julian and the others on their camping trip, he might show up there.

Asteria: Yeah, that is a great idea! Thanks for bringing it up. I like Morphos too, they strike me as a little gaudy, but they're perfect for what  plan on using them for.

Flamestrike: Knowing me? I guess I have a reputation. Well, I hope I fulfill you expectations!

Dragonet: But of course. If it was boring there would be no reason to write it.

Anee: Wow, I'm glad you receive it so well.

Marian: Yes, I have read her books, and no, Danny is not a rip-off. I had a problem with someone saying that in the past, and it isn't that way. No offense to you if you didn't mean to get me on this train of thought, but I tend to be extremely protective over my creations. And when someone wrote that statement to me, it was a massive blow to my patience. However, something tells me you didn't mean to get me on this train of thought, so please excuse my little rant; I probably should rein it in. Sorry. Anyway, I see you like the chapter, thank you very much! I'm always glad to see new reviewers, or at least, I assume you are new, my memory is simply awful sometimes. I hope you like this chapter too!

Okay! Tune in next time: The Beast That Is Not a Beast!

Please leave your reviews on the way out!