A/N

My, I'm on a little bit of a roll! Sorry for not updating anything yesterday, I was sidetracked.

Whack: The sound that is made one something small hits something larger. Usually painful.

Snore: A horrific sound made from your roommate just as you're about to fall asleep.

Note: I just made up these definitions, so don't use them on any tests or anything, okay?

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"Does he snore?"

"I dunno. Hey, Crepuscule do you snore?"

"I most assuredly do not."

"That means he does."

"Lady Rahne, I did hear that comment."

"The effect would have been lost if you hadn't."

It was remarkable how easily Rahne got along with Crepuscule now. It had only been a couple hours and already they were chatting like the best of friends.

Maybe chatting is a strong word. It was an improvement over the whole screaming and running away thing, though.

Night had come and now we were stumbling through the last part of the woods, which had become pitch black. I have to assume Crepuscule can see in the dark, or else we may be in big trouble. Since it was dangerous to wander around at night, as the Professor has informed countless times, we all decided just to plop down and get a little sleep. With any luck, Jean would sense us, fly over us, maybe scare Crepuscule and then it would be the four of us. Or three of us, if he ran away far enough.

Rahne shifted to her wolf form and took a sniff around our chosen sleeping spot. She returned with her tail wagging, so I assumed everything was okay. She shifted back to human form and sat beside me, with some trouble because she couldn't see me all that well.

"So the Rushing Marshes in the morning, hunh?"

"I guess so." I felt the ground. It was as hard as a rock. I let my hand wander, and touched Rahne's arm on accident. She squeaked in terror. "Sorry."

"No problem." She sounded a little annoyed.

Still groping around I felt my hand touch what felt like velvet. "Crepuscule?"

"You are touching my ribs, My Lady."

"Oh good. Then I'm going to sleep here."

"My Lady?"

I made a pillow out of his shoulder. Rahne came up behind me and leaned on him too.

"The ground is hard. You are soft. We mutants are picky about what we sleep on."

"I…see."

If he was blushing, I couldn't tell. Why did he blush, anyway? He kept on saying that he was a beast, but he never really acted like one. True animals don't blush when they walk in on someone bathing, male or female. If anything, they don't care. Then again, I've never met an animal like him before, so I could be trying to reconcile him with the wrong set of guidelines. Maybe I needed mythical creature guidelines. Yeah, right.

My eyes grew heavy as I listened to the rhythmic breathing on either side of me. Rahne, who snuffled a little in her sleep, and Crepuscule, whose deep, steady breathing was strangely comforting, like being curled up next to a bear. Nothing can hurt me here.

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Lying his head across one of his scaled legs, he watched the two young girls sleeping against his side. They were young, but also experienced, even if not of this world. It had surprised him greatly to hear of such a young girl being able to fight off a group of Demights. He had always heard they were a vicious sort, if he hadn't already learned that in the between world.

What bothered him though, was the thought that this group had been separate from the others.

Why?

Why this group? Were the other groups of Demights he saw scattered apart? Was this only one piece of that entire group? If so, then why? What would cause such a thing to happen?

The spell they used to teleport back to this world must have been interrupted somehow. That would be the only way they would have managed to disappear into so many groups. They should have all disappeared as one group.

He mentally replayed the events that happened after he first met the young Lady Danny.

He scooped her up and flew her through the gate back towards Esperanza's House. But before he got there, he saw the long line of Demights. They were carrying the people, one of which he now had curled up against his side. He attacked them. They started disappearing group by group.

That was it.

The group was meant to teleport as one, but the Demights were not far enough from the gate to the other world to do something like that. To set off such a powerful magic spell within the bounds of the gates was incredibly dangerous. The enchantments placed on the gate to stop magic or magic beings of the between world from entering the worlds beyond could have devastating effects on any spell cast within it's boundaries, unless that spell was permanently placed, such as the spell he had before he met Lady Danny. The spell could cease to function entirely, as a best case scenario, but the worse that could happen was that it could set off a chain reaction, and the snap back of the spell would immediately kill it's caster. The transportation spell that was used must have broken apart, setting the groups down erratically.

But by doing so there was always the risk that those being transported could find themselves inside a rock, or underneath a large body of water, or even several miles in the air. There was no garauntee that any creature would land safely. It was just luck that Lady Rahne had been spared this awful fate.

And he certainly did hope that this luck held out, for their sake.

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"AHHHHHHHH!!!"

"What? What?! What's going on-OW!!!"

My head slammed painfully into Crepuscule's underwing. He snorted in pain.

"Ahhh---oh. Okay."

I stared at Rahne while still holding my bruised head. "What was that about?!"

"I though I was having a dream and when I woke up I was going to be in a nice fluffy bed, and I could just feel it, but then I realized it was some big monster. But it's okay now, I know it's just Crepuscule." Her explanation had a sleepy undertone to it. And what really irked me was that she sounded so calm about it that it annoyed me to no end.

"So you just thought you'd wake me up to tell me that?!"

"I didn't wake you up."

"Yes you did! You were screaming!"

"You were snoring!"

"I was not!"

"Yes you were! Tell her Crepuscule!" Rahne demanded. Crepuscule was nursing his wing and promptly ignoring the both of us.

I admire him for that in a way. Usually people stare at two girls that are screaming to each other.

"I was not snoring!"

"Were too!"

"Were not!"

"Too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"Screamer!"

"Snorer!"

"May I ask the Ladies when we plan upon leaving this morning?"

"I so do not snore! Give us an hour. The lead should be out by then." I told him.

"You do too! Any food this morning?"

"I do not. Look in my pack, there's jerky."

She immediately pounced on my bag, and pulled out a couple strips of meat and began chewing on them. I sat beside her and pulled out a few strips for me too, and gave some to Crepuscule.

"You eat meat, right?"

"Yes. Among other things."

"Well, this will tide us all over for awhile. Then we gotta find something else."

"Will not those rations feed the two of you? I can find my own food."

"We're teenage girls. You honestly think this is enough food?"

Rahne stifled a giggle through her mouth full of jerky.

An hour later, with breakfast eaten and whatever things taken care of that needed to be, Rahne and I jogged alongside Crepuscule.

"I am fully capable of carrying you two."

"We know, but if we let you carry us all the time, then we'll have more time to worry about our slim figures." Rahne  commented. Personally, I was more worried about running the big guy down. I didn't want him to tire himself out with all the unnecessary weight.

"Hey, Wait a sec." Rahne pointed to her knee. "Could you make a tear here on either leg?"

"Why, Lady Rahne?"

"Because it is hot out here. I can't believe you don't notice."

"Oh…alright."

There he goes again, blushing. He shot out his paw and made two rips on her jeans. Rahne immediately tore the bottoms off. She hadn't been nicked once.

"Ah, freedom!"

"Better keep your shoes. One of us should have some footwear." I joked. We tossed the discarded pant legs into my little pack, and I slung it over my shoulder. The Squinky had the foresight to put a strap on the bag.

 We kept walking until Crepuscule called for us to stop.

"Now you must ride on my back. It is very dangerous through this way."

"Why?" I squinted around. The telltale signs of a marsh or swamp were becoming more clear. An increase of moss on the trees, a hike in humidity, and the kind of background drone in my head that only came from the hundreds of billions of sleepy insects and animals. It was daytime. Many swamp creatures are night animals.

"The marshes are very hard to see at first. It would be easy for two young ladies such as yourselves to become mired in them."

"Well okay." I turned and walked up to him. He bent down and I crawled onto his back. Rahne hopped up beside me.

"Mired?" She cocked an eyebrow at me. I just grinned.

Lightly flapping his wings, he stepped forward very carefully and began moving with extreme caution across the ground.

After awhile, I felt heat beating down on me. I looked up and noticed that the trees were getting sparser.

That's odd. The trees should be getting thicker if not staying the same.

SSTTTHHHHUK.

"Whoa." I jerked my head around, trying to place the noise. "What was that?"

"I don't know, but it came from over there." Rahne pointed between two trees.

SSSTTTHHHUUKKKK.

I jerked my head away towards the new sound. "Crepuscule?"

"Sinkholes. They go off every once in awhile."

"Sinkholes…are they making that sound on their own? That isn't normal, is it?"

"It is for this particular place."

"And what exactly is this particular place and why isn't it acting normal?"

"This is the Rushing Marshes. Underneath this ground, there is an underground river, or at least, there used to be. It turned to sludge when the mountain spring it came from began to spout unhealthy water from its depths. It turned this plash into a marsh, because underneath this ground is a cave in which the sludge accumulates before passing on. The reason the sinkholes are making those sounds is because the water is moving, creating a sort of suction effect in certain points."

"So…those sinkholes are actually sinking as we speak."

"Yes. And anything caught in those sinkholes sink even faster with the added suction. That is why I requested you ride upon my back. Usually the sinkholes are only the size of one of the Squinky, but in many ways, the size of Squinky and human do not differ."

"I hope Jean didn't get stuck in one." Rahne whispered to me. I nodded.

Suddenly, a small, robed figure came flying through the trees. Literally.

WHAAAAACCKK!

"Owwie." That looked like it hurt. The little robed man was half through a tree, slumped over. I couldn't really tell if it was breathing or not.

As if that wasn't enough, a little herd of the creatures came bolting through totally ignoring us and looking like they got the fear of Mr. Logan put into them.

"You are so DEAD WHEN I GET AHOLD OF YOU! WHERE IS SCOTT!?"

Ah. Scratch that, it has become the fear of Jean.

She came flying through with her hair flowing like snakes and just looking downright scary. Rahne and I were totally speechless. I'm not quite sure what Crepuscule was doing, but it probably involved him watching slack jawed like the rest of us. She flew right past us. I think her eyes may be glowing. Though, I'm told that severe anger does that to a person. I swear, I've seen my Mom's eyes glow more than once.

"…Should we, uh…."

"Maybe we should leave her alone, she seems to have everything in hand." I said a little shakily. It's not everyday you see a psychic person that angry. And it was terrifying. I had a death grip on Crepuscule's ropes and I hadn't even noticed the pain. 

Speaking of which…

"Crepuscule? You okay?" I was trying to sound brave and collected, but somehow it was just not working.

"That…girl…is she?"

"Yeah, she's my friend."

"Oh dear."

"You okay?"

"Yes, *ahem*, I'm fine." He straightened himself out and beat his wings, rising off the ground. He gained a little altitude and began skimming the trees in the direction that Jean went.

"I thought we couldn't fly above trees?"

"Considering the person we are looking for, it won't be that hard to spot her."

"True. You okay Rahne?"

"Yep."

"Cool."

Crepuscule suddenly arced and gracefully slipped below the trees.

"Your friend."

I looked down and saw Jean struggling to get out of a sinkhole.

"Uh oh. Jean!"

She looked up and saw me and Rahne, and her face brightened.

"You're alright! Have you seen Scott?"

"Girl has a one track mind." Rahne said to me. "No, we haven't. Stay there, we'll pull you out."

"Where exactly do you think I'll be going?!"

We both decided to blissfully ignore that comment and leaned down as Crepuscule glided over her. We each grabbed one of her arms.

"Fly!"

"And don't let us fall!" Rahne added.

Crepuscule beat his wings down hard, and there were squelching sounds as Jean came loose. He slammed his wings down again, and she was almost free. The third time almost unseated me as Jean shot loose and Crepuscule barrel rolled upwards, keeping us above the trees and swinging away across the forest.

"If you can fly, how did you get stuck in that sinkhole?" Rahne asked as she pulled Jean up. I was wondering the same thing.

"They were trying to grab me again, and I turned to get away."

"So."

"There was a tree in the way." She said with obvious embarrassment.

"Well there's using your head." I joked. She glared at me, than just stared.

"What are you wearing?"

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What indeed? Well, they found Jean and now have no leads. I wonder what will happen?

Asteria: Yeah, Rahne is cool. One of my favorites, but that isn't saying much, because they're practically all my favorites. Yes, they are, aren't they? I wonder if that's an ingrained response? Too many fairytale readings?

Laureate: Heh, yeah, he is kinda huggable, once you get past the fact that he's big with sharp teeth and claws. Danny in Wonderland? Sounds like a parody that might be fun to do, if it wasn't already overdone. Though I have been toying with the idea of making an Arcane story…a parody, that is. But it's still in the works.

PrincessofWildfire: Would you believe that sometimes it's hard to keep him talking that way? I have to go back an check to make sure he doesn't sound like a teenager because I've been writing for them so long. I'm glad you like it!

Anee/Arain Rowan/Arin Ross: Thank you very much, I hope you like this chapter just as much. As far as the E-bay thing…I wonder if that happens to everyone? I know someone who's on E-bay all the time and I'm not quite sure she's all there.

Anon(girl): Ah yes. That I do realize (and you spelt them correctly, by the way.) but the fact of the matter is, my real skill with writing for accents is slim if not none. I'm much better at writing different forms of speech, such as Crepuscule's gentlemanly manner. What I actually do is sometimes skip accents entirely, they didn't really have them in the show very much anyway. And that little slip up happened when I was writing, I actually was playing with accents, but dropped that, and forgot to change that part back. Now that I think about it, it's Shakespearean. Where'd that come from? Oh well. Tut. Now, I don't mind criticism at all, in fact I welcome it. Don't be afraid of setting me off, I'm usually a very reasonable person. I won't bite your head off or anything. Ah, but I write too much. My response is longer than your review. Glad you liked the chapter!

Chaotic Dreamer: Then I shan't keep you waiting any longer! Hope you like it!

Herman shall take the reviews today! He hopes you all have a wonderful day!