A/N

Yay! I am feeling much better, having gotten more sleep and such, but I have to warn you that next week starts band practice, so I may be having trouble updating regularly. Will try my best to keep it up, though.


When we all got up in the morning it was decided that we couldn't decide anything right away.

Can't say I'm surprised.

So Jean and Mr. McCoy, laden with the new information I imparted to them, decided that if we kept on going through the highlands we should probably find some sort of settlement. And when we find said settlement, we must ask one of two things: Have you seen our comrades or do you know where the Soul King is?

Jean and Mr. McCoy quickly wheedled as much information as they could out of me when we started walking that morning. After they were satisfied that I wasn't holding anything of value, I was dismissed to the back of the group to help watch for trouble. Or to keep out of trouble. They weren't specific which.

I feel as if I'm being slightly disillusioned. But it does no good to worry about things that, in the scheme of things, are totally irrelevant.

I think that when this is over, I need to have a council with a mute dog about my problems. Talking to a person that listens and rarely interrupts is fabulous therapy.

No birds or animals were following me. I think that even though I feel as if nothing mattered, my mood was a little foul.

I rubbed my temple. It was beginning to smart through excessive thinking.

"A wolf asked you to love him?" Ray asked, laughing. Rahne sulked.

"It's not funny Ray."

Actually, it was, just not to her. I grinned a little at them. Jean was floating a few feet above the ground, trying to get a bird's eye view of the area around us, and I thought I caught her smile a little too.

Well, at least I know she still retains a sense of humor.

"Aha! There's a village!" She pointed right into a large mound of rock and dirt.

"They must be small people." Jubilee whispered.

"Wouldn't surprise me." Ray muttered.

"No, after the mound! In a valley, there's a little village! I can hear the psyches!" She said triumphantly.

She made us move forward as quickly as possible, which wasn't all that fast, since most of us were not morning people.

Crepuscule hung back a bit until I caught up with him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"You are upset, I think. Insects tend to stop chirping while you walk by and start up again when you are a safe distance away."

"Do they?" I hadn't even realized. But glancing around I realized that the insects were keeping silent. "That's not good. If they don't chirp we'll attract things."

"I doubt we'll attract anything as of yet. Do you wish to talk about it?"

"No, I'll be fine, I just don't like to be scolded. I'm a teenager and should be beyond it. But I did do something wrong, and now I'll live with the consequence."

"You are very resigned." He seemed a little disappointed.

"I have to be. Everyone here has more experience than I do, and I'm practically useless now, except for intelligence gathering, and right now they don't trust me, which makes me even less useful. So, in retrospect, I'm basically deadweight."

"It's not that bad." He looked aghast.

I didn't answer that. In truth, I didn't trust myself to open my mouth. I was beginning to see it, the changes I was making. I didn't have to sort through two emotions anymore, didn't have to pick the nicer of the two. I guess…I wasn't quite a full person before I came. Now I was almost there, and it was scary, to be acting so different.

And not being able to hide it.

"Danny, I don't think they believe of you this way. You are their friend." He persisted. I nodded.

"You're right. I'm just going through a teenage time, don't worry about me, we're always angsty." I forced a grin on my face (believable, none the less) and he seemed relieved. "I'll be just fine."

He seemed happy with this, and when Mr. McCoy called him up there to ask him questions about some of the flora, which he didn't know anything about, he seemed much more relaxed.

I was feeling a bit better too. Good to know someone cares; it just cuts through the teenage angst. The insect noticed my mood brightening and began to chirp again.

Just before noon we reached the lip of the valley. It was deep, and the valley lay hidden underneath a massive shadow from the combined mountainous hills.

"This is creepy." Rahne said. I was inclined to agree.

There were animals in the valley, but they spoke with hushed voices, as if afraid they'd wake up something.

The village was deep into the valley, next to a small river that seemed to be as quiet as the animals, and could barely be seen except as a mass of very dark buildings.

"Okay, I think we should walk around." Ray said suddenly. "This is way too creepy, and I've had way too much magic this time around life."

"We can't, it'll take too long. And what if one of the guys is in there?" Kitty butted in, stopping Jubilee from speaking her piece, "We owe it to them to go down there." She paused for a moment. "If course, we could, like, leave a small force behind, just in case…"

"Great Kitty," Jean rolled her eyes. "Look, we don't know what's in these hills. It's best if we just stay together. Besides, there are people down there, and they can help us.

"If they aren't man hunters or something." Ray muttered.

"Then you shouldn't have a problem." Kitty retorted. Ray was about ready to fire back when Mr. McCoy grabbed them both and separated them.

"Let's try to keep our heads about us, shall we?" He set them on the ground at either side of him.

"If we try to go around we don't know when or where we'll see another village. We have to make the most of the opportunity we've been given." Jean pointed out.

"Well, if Jean wants to do this, we have no choice." Jubilee said.

"What does that mean?!" Jean asked hastily.

"Nothing. Let's go." Jubilee started down the rocky slope. "You coming? Come on!"

The rest of us followed, most of us looking distinctly uneasy.

I stepped carefully around the rocks, not wanting to cut my feet. There was an odd murmur, not quite…alive, it seemed like, that permeated the background noise. All in all, it was making me distinctly suspicious of the village that Jean was talking about.

A little lizard watched us from the top of a rock. I gave it a little salute as I passed, and it flicked it's tongue in reply. It, too, seemed unwilling to break the whisper that every creature spoke under.

Strange.

We finally got to the gently rolling grass of the valley and started walking towards the village, which still looked pretty dark. I kept seeing animals peeking out at us from burrows and underneath tall grass.

None of us talked as we walked. It seemed wrong to.

Pretty soon we came across an old fence that had been partially destroyed with age. In the distance, I saw some wooly, horned creatures appearing to eat the grass.

"There's something wrong here." I muttered. "I just can't put my finger on it."

"What?" Jubilee asked, not hearing me.

"Nothing, just talking to myself." I said.

"Do it a little quieter?" She turned back to Jean, who was about to step foot into the village.

There was a collective sigh of relief as Jean walked in and was not attacked by nameless monsters.

We all walked in after her, and found ourselves in what looked like a town square. A deserted town square at that.

"It's quiet. Too quiet." Ray said cutely. He was immediately swatted on the back of his head by three girls.

"Shut up, Clint."

"Was that Clint Eastwood?"

"I don't know. Jean?"

"I hit him because he was being stupid, I don't know your guys' reasoning." Then she saw something. "Hey…Hey! You!"

A man was leaving a house, and blinked at us owlishly. "Eh? What do you want?" He lit a lamp, which brightened up the square considerably. The shadows made it seem as if the place was wreathed in eternal night or something. Strange how they seemed to be darkest here, and things still grew in the valley.

"We'd like to know where we are, for starters."

"Welcome to the Spring's End. Anything else? Inn's behind you."

"Where is everyone?" She persisted. The man wanted to get away from her.

"Not a lot of people here, probably at the mayor's house figuring up the wages for the croppers. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a store to tend. Young ones will want candy, I'll have to give it to them." He walked off with a slight limp.

"Okay." Jean crossed her arms. "Let's go see about that Inn."

We located it without difficulty. It was a massive old building, and at first glance, it appeared to be falling down, dilapidated. But I blinked, and when I looked at it again, it was still in good repair.

I frowned. It must have been a trick of the light. Or no light.

I was further assured I had just been seeing things when we walked in and we were surrounded by what looked like first class. Everything was good looking rugs and chairs, and what looked like a telephone.

"Wow, you think we can call home on that?" Kitty asked, looking at the porcelain phone.

"It would be hard to hold it up to your ear for a long time." Jubilee said. "It must be heavy."

"May I help you young ladies and gentlemen?" A big woman asked from behind the booth.

"We'd like some rooms. How much?" Jean fingered a small bag Adelia had given her.

"Not money." She said with a sweet smile. "Tell me some stories and I'll let you stay here. Make them good, and I'll set you up in the suites."

"Stories?" Jean could have been knocked over with a feather.

"Of course. We don't get a lot of company around here. We're all starved for a little information on the outside world."

"Why?" Jean was dumbfounded.

"Because. Now, are you going to tell me some stories, or am I throwing you all out on your backsides?"


Well, that's certainly interesting, isn't it?

AnonGirl88:Glad you're having fun. Hope you like the chapter1

PrincessOfWildfire: Heh, thank you. I am feeling much better. I'm glad you liked the last chapter and think the shadow is creepy, and I hope you like this chapter just as much as the other ones.

asp: I'm sure she's just worried and such. Though I'm sure she'll get over herself somehow. Anyway, glad you liked the last chapter! Hope you like this one too!

Herman shall take the reviews, and you don't need to tell him stories to do it…