A/N
Wow! Imagine that, an update at a semi-sane time. I hope you like this chapter, I worked hard on it!
Languid: slow, dull. i.e. languid breezes.
Chopped liver: What a person feels like when ignored or when their accomplishments are ignored.
I didn't even wait for him to land when I dropped off, blowing on my hands to cool them down.
Any sort of distance flying with a beast and only holding onto the ropes around its neck is far too long.
Ivan climbed down off of Crepuscule, giving him a look that said he clearly didn't enjoy the ride. Red Moon got up, languidly stretched, then jumped onto Ivan's shoulder and sat there smugly.
Crepuscule tapped my shoulder with his nose. "Are you all right?"
"Peachy. Thanks for coming just in the nick of time." I patted his nose. "We need to find the others and Mr. McCoy."
"Who?"
"I'll introduce you later, when I see him. He'll probably be fascinated by you. He's a teacher, by the way."
"I'd hate to interrupt your lovely reunion, but I was hoping to leave by morning." Ivan cut in, straightening his clothing and running a hand through his hair. "If you aren't by my ship by the time I leave, this deal is off."
"That sounds fair." I said calmly. "It shouldn't take too long to find my friends."
"When you find them, head to the docks, you'll see the Black Sun there. Tell the guard you have business with me. I'll be waiting, but only till dawn." He turned on his heel and stalked off, so much like the cat on his shoulder it was scary.
See you there, Dann.
I winked at the cat. He watched me with half closed eyes, and then turned his attention back to the direction Ivan was going.
I turned back to Crepuscule. "We need to find my friends."
"Do you trust him?" He indicated with a flick of his ears.
"Yes." I said after a moment. "I think he's trustworthy enough. He'll keep his word, which may be to our disadvantage. We have to find them soon. It's already dark."
This way of flying was much better. The wind was whipping my hair back. I leaned forward to take some of the cold wind off of me, and stretched my thoughts out mentally.
(Hello? Is anyone awake out there? I need some help finding my friends; can I get a little information?)
What do you want?
I glanced down to see some dog like animals looking up at me. "Stop, hover here for a sec."
Crepuscule stopped in air, and beat his wings in place.
(I need to find a big furry guy, a girl with red hair--) I stopped. How many people matched those descriptions here? (They smell not of this world.)
We smell them. They went east, after the screamer.
(Screamer?)
It screams and spits.
(Never mind, I know what you're talking about now. Thanks a lot guys.)
Good luck.
I nodded. Turning to Crepuscule, I said, "We have to go back to that monster you rescued me from."
He looked confused but didn't say anything. He leaned down and swung back the way we had come from.
After a few minutes of flight, we passed over a partially decimated part of the city.
"Oops. Hope nobody got hurt."
Crepuscule looked around with his superior vision, trying to pick out one of my friends.
"Danielle!"
I jerked and looked over my shoulder. Crepuscule sensed my movement and turned towards the voice.
Mr. McCoy was hanging off the edge of a roof, waving to me.
"Mr. McCoy!"
Crepuscule pulled a shallow dive and settle a few feet away from the teacher.
"What are you doing here? I thought you would have gone into hiding or something."
"Why would I need to do that? They caught me by surprise the first time, and I don't believe they will be so lucky next time." He sounded amused. "I came to see if you needed help."
"Why would I need help?" I was a little confused.
"There is a large slug attacking buildings. It was natural of me to think of you. I suspect that you are not controlling him."
"I'm not." I decided not to bring up the fact that the idea of controlling animals upsets me, and I don't do it. It didn't matter right then, anyway. "Have you seen the others?"
"That is a fascinating animal…Others?"
"Jean and Rahne. I heard they were over here. Oh, and Crepuscule, this is Mr. McCoy, Mr. McCoy, this is my friend Crepuscule."
"Pleased to meet you." Mr. McCoy greeted courteously. Crepuscule nodded back. "I have not seen either of them. Shall we look together?"
"Yes sir."
Mr. McCoy swung off to the left of the building, and Crepuscule swept right.
"He's very interesting." Crepuscule seemed a little uncertain of himself. I had to laugh.
"It's okay if you don't like him. I know he can be intimidating sometimes, even to really tough guys. Just wait till he starts spouting theory."
"He is very polite."
"Almost to a fault." I said with a laugh. Then something caught my eye.
"No way. I can't believe it. That just screams Kitty."
"Who?"
"Another friend of mine," I said as I gazed at the writhing monster. It was trapped half in, half out of the ground. Obviously some mutant, not naming any names, had tricked the monster into its predicament. Unless, of course, someone else had the power to phase. I probably shouldn't assume. Assumptions only get people into trouble.
We floated over the monster for a second, then left it behind in favor of finding the others.
"Where could they be?" I tried to call some animals, but there weren't any answering. I wasn't really worried. Jean could practically beat someone to a pulp without even touching them, and she and Rahne were together, I was almost positive, and if Kitty was hanging out with them too, well, I was in more danger than they were. And I was sitting on a massive Dragon like creature.
Which brought me to an important question. What exactly was Crepuscule?
"Danny! Down here! Yoohoo!" I looked down in surprise.
There stood Kitty, just like I suspected, jumping up and down happily.
"Is that, like, your new friend?" She yelled, pointing at Crepuscule. Crepuscule leaned down and descended to the ground.
"Yeah. This is Crepuscule. This is Kitty." I gestured to her. Crepuscule bowed his head politely.
"Wow, he's, like, lots cooler looking than that booger I stuck in the ground."
"I had a feeling that was you. I saw Mr. McCoy, have you seen Jean and Rahne?"
"We're supposed to meet up at a building a couple blocks from here. Like, can I catch a ride?"
"You mind, Crepuscule?"
"Not at all." He leaned down gentlemanly and I reached out my arm for Kitty to grab. She hauled herself up behind me. Crepuscule, once we were situated, opened his wings and took flight.
"Okay, go four blocks down…" Kitty began to name off the directions to me. I didn't really pay attention. Crepuscule heard her clearly enough anyway.
I enjoyed the wind. It was cold, and bitter. It was a strange change from the hot day, but natural nonetheless.
A few minutes later, however, I was jarred from my senses when we landed on the roof of a building.
"Kitty! Where were you!? You scared us! And look, we found Mr. McCoy!"
"What am I, chopped liver? I got lost too." I grumbled as I rolled off of Crepuscule's back. Kitty jumped off and started talking a mile a minute about how she jumped on the back of the monster and passed it into the ground while it was running.
"Well, that's great, but we still have to find the others." Jean interrupted. "Now what do we do?"
"Funny you should say that." I grinned innocently.
Heheh, well, they finally all get back together. Looks like 'smooth sailing' from now on!
PrincessOfWildfire:I love that movie! The Jurassic park movies were so cool. So were the books. Hope you like the chapter!
Raliena: Everyone's peachy. Glad to see you caught Herman! Hope you liked this chapter!
Laureate:Yeah, school ends soon, thank goodness. I don't think I could take another few months of it. Glad you like Ivan and Red Moon. Hope you like this chapter!
Herman will take reviews today, as always. He hopes you had a fun read!
