A/N

An extra long chapter! I couldn't find a place to stop for this chapter that felt right, so it's about twice as long! Hope you guys don't mind (though somehow I doubt you will.).

Ferry: to carry

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The sound hit my ears, deafening them with it's high pitched scream. I screamed too, scared by the monster and startled at this sudden ability to hear the beast that a second ago I could only see.

My hands were still on the ropes around its neck, and I was jerked up off the ground when the creature reared and screamed louder, echoing pain and fury. My grip suddenly slipped and I landed on my butt on the hard rock floor. It really stung.

I didn't have time to rub the sore spot though, because the draconian/horse-like head swung around and looked right at me.

It could see me.

It snorted loudly, picking up one of its front paws and splaying the claws. It looked ready to swat my head off like a volleyball.

There was no way I could stand up to something like this. It took concentration to pull the power into a form I could use, and right now concentration wasn't ranking high on my list. More like sheer panic.

It was hesitating. Why?

I looked up at the creature. It still had it's paw raised as if to strike, but it seemed to be faltering, as if it didn't seem to know what it was doing. The eyes, which had been red with fury, were now some dark color that I couldn't make out in the dim light.

It looked right at me, locking eyes with mine. The anger was gone, there was only confusion, desperation, and pain. It took a faltering step forward, and then collapsed.

Right on me.

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"What was that?!" Logan stared off into the darkness. Ororo's group of students came up beside him. She looked around curiously.

"What was what?"

"Keep your eyes open. There's something that shouldn't be in this jungle." Logan's claws came out, glinting in the moonlight. The scream he had heard could have been otherworldly. But that wasn't the scope of things. There was something wrong about the entire smell of the place.

There was something evil here.

Not just here. It was all around. He didn't know what it was that made the insects suddenly stop humming or the birds to act frightened as they did, but it wasn't Doolittle. Animals seemed to be more active when she was around.

It was like calm before a storm.

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It was so heavy.

I couldn't even lift the neck, which was laying across my left shoulder and chest. My legs were trapped under its body, which felt like it weighed well over a ton. In fact, I think it may be cutting off the circulation.

This is what happens when a person can't put on muscle. Something just ups and falls on them.

If I looked up a bit, I could see the face of the beast. It's eyes were closed, and I couldn't tell if it was breathing.

Speaking of breathing, it was getting difficult for me to breath. There was too much weight on my chest. I tried pushing it again, and I got the scaled neck to move, but my strength gave out and the neck shifted back into it's original spot, knocking some of the air out of me.

This would be a really embarrassing way to die. Yeah, Danny ran out into the jungle to see some angry beast and died when the beast fell on her and suffocated her. Don't people call that irony? Maybe that was just stupidity.

No, I'm not going to die this way.

I tried to breath as I concentrated. Air was in short supply, and I was getting a headache from lack of it.  If it was dead, which it could very well be, I couldn't feel the heartbeat, then giving it a little life boost just to get off of me would work. If it wasn't, well, it was threatening to kill me just because it was suffocating me. Hopefully whatever safety mechanism my mind uses to rein in the Power would factor that in and I could hurt it enough to get it off me.

I felt the Power react within me and pressed my hands on the easiest accessible part of the monster, in this case the neck. My head was swimming. It was taking a lot to get my mind together, and it took time. I had to get it off now, or they would be sending flowers to my funeral.

I closed my eyes as pangs of pain started arching through my hands as I pumped the creature a full dose of the power.

It didn't work. It didn't move. Panic rose up in my throat and a struggled to keep it bottled up as I tried to pull my hands away and think of something else.

My hands didn't move. I started in surprise at this, thinking my brain wasn't reacting or I was too tired.

I couldn't let go. And it hurt.

A strangled sob tore out of my throat before I could stop it. I was pulling with all my remaining strength, but my hands didn't leave the neck. And the pangs of pain that had started when I used the Power were coming back in full force, this time searing like fire.

It was pulling the Power right out of me.

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"What's with those butterflies?" Rahne whispered, staring in wonder at the masses of blue butterflies.

"They're pretty." Kitty whispered back, awed.

Hank McCoy looked out at the butterflies troubled. "They seem to be greatly agitated. I wonder what's going on?"

"Danny would know. I bet she'd walk right up to them and ask them."

"Miss Sinclair, Danny may be the reason for it." Hank mused. "In any case, we should keep our eyes open. Something tells me something wicked is inhabiting this jungle."

"How do you figure?" Kitty said, still mesmerized by the erratically flying butterflies.

"It's a feeling." Hank gazed into the dark jungle around them. Kitty suddenly shuddered.

"Did you guys feel that?"

"What?" Rahne looked at her curiously.

"I swear, there is like, some seriously bad karma floating around here. The temperature just fell."

"Yeah, it is kinda cold…are you supposed to see your breath in a rainforest?" the young Scottish girl's breath was freezing in the air.

"Hey, where'd the butterflies go?" Kitty pointed at the clearing they had been watching the butterflies fly. The clearing was now so empty that it seemed the air itself had swallowed the beautiful insects.

"Spirits." Rahne whispered.

"Ghosts aren't real." Kitty scoffed, even though she felt an awful feeling knot into her stomach. Hank sniffed the air. There was something very wrong, as if life had stopped.

A low piercing scream rang out in the darkness, followed by another and another. Soon an entire host of these dirge calls sent up.

"Mr. McCoy, I wanna go home."

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Agonizing.

It hurt so badly. It was like life was being sucked right out of my body. Is this what happens when Rogue touches people?

My hands were bleeding badly, but I still couldn't let go. I don't know whether the cuts were caused by the scales or by the Power being yanked out of my skin, but at the moment I didn't care. All I knew was that it hurt and I was still suffocating.

"Get off…please…wake up…." I coughed and wheezed. No answer came from the creature. It could have been dead for all I knew.

It is said life flashes before a person's eyes when they are about to die. I expected that to happen anytime now.

My mind was fuzzy with pain and lack of air. Sometimes a dry sob would hit my body, coupled with panic and fear.

I may never get to see my family or Julian again.

I am too young for this sort of thing. Teenagers are supposed to be whining about being grounded, or checking out boys. Not be stuck underneath a monster and slowly dying.

I mentally registered that I could move my fingers. I looked up hazily and was amazed when I could pull my hands from the creatures neck. I looked at one of them and almost fainted quickly averting my eyes and hiding my bloody palms against my chest. I swore I could see the white of a bone. It looked as if the skin had been opened from the inside and then the wounds had been torn.

I cried. I sobbed, even though I'm a little ashamed to admit it. I was scared, helpless.

There were always calls I could have made to animals, but there was no point and purpose to it. I knew when I stepped into this place that it was bad. I should have went with my instincts. And the birds avoided flying over this place. I should have taken that into account. I should have left it well enough alone.

The weight on my chest suddenly deepened and I cried out. The movement stopped, but my air supply was remarkably shallower. Then the weight lifted off my chest and I dimly registered that the monster was moving off of me. I took in air and coughed, and I looked at the creature.

Was  that…concern?

I felt everything swirl into an indecipherable mess, then everything went black.

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"Jean!" Scott fired an optic blast at the creature that had snagged his girlfriend's hair, only to hit nothing when both of them disappeared. "JEAN!"

"Down, Cyke!" Logan grabbed him roughly and threw him to the ground as two more of the strange creatures jumped overhead, intending to catch him off guard. They got more than they bargained for when Logan entered into the mix however, and soon both were fleeing from the razor sharp adamantium claws.

It had been an ambush. Ororo and Logan's group, consisting of Sam, Ray, Jean, himself, Jubilee, and Rogue, had been sticking close together at the order of Logan, because 'somethin didn't smell right'. They came to this clearing, and in that clearing was a swirling bunch of blue butterflies. Then the little creatures appeared. At first he thought it was a group of wild dogs, the way they seemed to move in a pack. Then he realized that they were small beings, only three feet tall, but incredibly dangerous. They all wore robes and hoods, which obscured everything but glowing purple eyes. The only other feature he could see were three clawed hands, which looked flimsy and breakable. But that hadn't proved the case when one grabbed Sam and threw him across the clearing into a tree, knocking him senseless. Another grabbed him and they both disappeared. Then the entire pack attacked, taking prisoners in the form of incapacitated mutants.

Now there was only himself, Logan, Ororo, and Jubilee left. Jubilee was throwing fireworks everywhich way, which was remarkably effective. The little creatures were none too happy about having shining dots in their faces. They made this painfully obvious when one raked it's claws across Jubilee's arm, causing her to scream in pain.

Ororo immediately sent bolts of lightning crashing down onto the beasts that were surrounding Jubilee. They hissed balefully and scampered away.

"You are no match for this Weather Witch!" She sent more bolts after the retreating creatures.

"'Ro! Above! Look out!"

Scott watched helplessly as a creature hit Ororo hard in the back, knocking her senseless. Logan charged forward, but howled in frustration when both disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Jubilee, not being watched, was dragged down by three of the creatures and was dragged away into the forest, screaming. That scream cut abruptly short when those creatures disappeared, taking her with them.

Why? Why was this happening? What were these things?

Something gripped his arm suddenly. He looked down, shocked to see purple glowing eyes. His hand shot up to his visor, ready to blow a hole in this creature, but it was caught by another hand. Another of the little monsters had taken advantage of his distracted mind and sidled up beside him.

"Logan!" Wolverine turned around fast to see his predicament. Immediately he came to help, claws raised.

"Sssorry, you aren't invited beassst." One of the little creatures chortled at Logan. Scott felt something land on his back and felt a dull pain in the back of his head, and everything turned black.

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He hadn't meant for this to happen.

He gently pushed her shoulder with his nose. She didn't move. Unconscious.  He hadn't meant to hurt anyone. Of course, he hadn't meant to be ambushed while traversing between worlds, but this was too much. 

He was just a ferry creature. A servant of his master. It had just been a routine flight, pick up a few herbs for the master.  An incredibly boring errand, but he had been thankful, it would be the first time he stretched his wings in weeks.

He had been taking his time, enjoying the flight into a pseudo limbo, covered with bright colors, always changing shape. It was one of his favorite places to fly.

Then they had come. There had been so many of them, they swarmed across his body, holding onto his back and wings with their little sharp claws. He bucked them off and rushed away, hoping to leave that between world and jumping into the old temples of the ancient. It was the easiest way to leave that limbo. But they had followed, purple eyes glowing. He didn't even know how they got into that limbo, or why they were there. He had heard of them, yes, in passing conversation. But as far as he heard, they stayed in dark places, far away from prying eyes.

And then they had cornered him, trapping him half in, half out of a sacred gateway. Then everything became blurred as he tried to attack them and get through the gate at the same time. He had slipped in and out of Limbo then, trying to get loose of the mystical gate and into safety. It had lasted forever, it seemed. He lost his temper. Then one of the creatures slashed him across the chest with a weapon it had concealed in it's robes. The pain had been absolute.

Then, a few short moments later, his feet were firmly in an ancient temple. He had been shocked and confused, and when he realized there was another there in the building with him, he'd almost had enough. No, he had enough. Every though of killing had crossed his mind and he even went so far as to show his claws.

But it had only been a girl. This girl. And then he blacked out.  When he came back too, he realized that he mistakenly fell on the girl.

Now she was unconscious. There was nothing he could do for her here. And he couldn't very well leave her, she could die.

He would have to take her back. Surely the master would understand. The master wouldn't let her die.

He stepped forward and gathered her up, taking special care not to prick her with his long claws. It was hard enough doing that, as he was a four legged creature. He managed to get her gathered up next to his scaled chest, however and noticed with much guilt that her hands were bleeding. He knew he was the cause.

 Settling back on his haunches and opening his wings halfway to catch his balance, he adjusted the way he held her until he could carry her with one paw, leaning her against his body as he moved. Settling back down on three paws, he gave a slow gallop towards the entrance, and took flight. His chest hurt badly when he beat his wings, a detail lost to him when he worried about the girl he had inadvertently injured.

He whispered something quietly to the wind, and a shimmer appeared in the air before him. He flew straight into it.

Suddenly light colors swirled into his vision. Blues, greens, grays, colors that had no names, and many that did inhabited this strange between world.

But that was not what caught his attention this time. It was the line of them.

Demights. The same ones that attacked him. Now they were carrying with them humans.

Fury consumed him again. That's what they wanted. For him to find a gate they could use! But surely it had tgo be more than that. Even if they got through the gate, there was nop garauntee they could get abck. In any case, they wouldn't get far with their prizes.

Keeping a firm grip on the girl, he swept down fast, using his wings to knock down a few of them  and scattering the rest. They hissed at him, threw things at him. But he dodged most of it and circled upwards taking in a deep breath.

The little ones had an inkling of what was going to happen and screeched in panic and dove for cover, of which there was none.

Concentrated electricity burst from his mouth and hit many of the little ones that had been straggling from the main group. Immediately a collective scream came up from the creatures, and a group of them disappeared, right before his eyes.

There was more to this than met his eyes.

He took in another breath, but another group of the creatures vanished, then another and another. By the time he could hit them again, all but one group had left. He let loose a torrent of pure gold electricity on them, shocking the unlucky few who remained. But they too vanished.

Snorting furiously, he checked the ground, which was a pastel yellow. If any of the little creatures were here, they would have shown themselves. He checked down at the girl. She was still there, unawake. She needed some help. So did he.

He wheeled back around and made a direct route to home.

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A/N

Man, I say it's gonna be humor and I come up with something as serious as this? I promise to bring back the humor next chapter. Anyway, I hope you like it!

Asteria: Weird. Thanks a lot! I always want to hold back on my descriptions, because I don't want to bore people, but I'm glad you liked it!

Raliena: Does this chapter answer some of your questions? I hope it does! More will be revealed next chapter.

Drunk on Tang: Thank you, I love making lines that people like, and Herman says hi.

CrypticIdentity: Heh, well, I can't tell you much right now, it would ruin my fun. Anyway, I'm glad you liked it! (and yes, I do remember you, glad to see you reviewing again!)

Arin Ross/Arain Rowan/Anee: Herman says thank you for the butterfly. And I hope you like the amount of creature feature in this chapter. I tried to update soon as I could, but this chapter was long in the writing.

Dragonet: NOOOOO! My poor bat! Oh well. He can just fly away or something, which he appears to have done since he's taking reviews again. Yeah, it would be bad if she died. Thankfully, it appears she hasn't.

Laureate: Thanks! I'm glad I've gotten out of a rut I seem to have dropped myself into. I've been having trouble with the AU Danny. I think her story may be placed on hiatus until I figure out something to do with the plot.  As far as the creature, can't tell you just yet. I want to have fun with this, so I'm going to be stubborn and not let any ideas slip out. Thanks for the cookies and the great comments!

Rogue77: I know, cliffhangers are evil. But I hope you like this chapter! It's extra long for reading convenience!

Anon(girl): Ah, see? I updated them both on the same day. Hope you enjoyed it!

Ravyn Nyte: You know, I had no idea what that was until I looked it up? Learn something new everyday. Glad to hear you'll be back soon! (I love that song!)

Herman will take the reviews! He'll also take any moths you have, he's hungry.