A/N
Sorry again about the lull, I am doing my best, it just seems that when I have a bit of time, here comes something else to gobble it up. Hopefully, though, I've got something that should help me get stuff up faster, so I might be doing better. If not, well, I am trying, and I'm not stopping.
"Man, this place is rough." Ray commented as he avoided a broken rock. The land had been growing increasingly barren, and there was a very clear cut path. Apparently the soldiers didn't care what was in front of them. Everything was destroyed.
Rogue had begun to voice her opinions even louder in the last few hours. We had been after these trails for almost a day with no stop, and she was getting fed up with it. Everyone was. But they were still all going after it with ragged determination and Jean's unending encouragement. She was even more tired than the rest of us, having to support Scott as well as lead the group.
We were all tired, and my ability to track them mentally was beginning to rely on foreign sources- that is, on indecipherable messages I was getting bits and pieces of. It was too much like Alistair's beasts for comfort.
We should have looked at him more carefully. Instead, I was too discomfited to stay. The others too.
But then, why did he not just go after Sam, Rogue, and Ms. Monroe? What held him back. Surely at least two out of three were virgins, unless I've been catering too much to my animals than my human friends.
Maybe I have been. But it's hard to do anything else when I always hear them, and can't rest if I don't.
"It's just a little bit farther!"
"Shut-UP!" Rogue snapped. "We've been movin' all day! We cain't just keep goin' on cause you say so!"
"We have to keep going, it's our only chance!" Jean whirled around and glared at her.
""No it ain't! Look, jus' cause we take a break now doesn' mean that we're all gonna die! But we will die if we show up barely standin' cause we never took a rest! What, we gonna ask him politely 'Don't destroy the world'? We gotta take a rest or we're not gonna be a use for anythin', and you know it!"
For the first time in the time I've known her, Jean was speechless. She opened her mouth, then closed it and looked defeated when she realized that we were all tired.
"I'm sorry." She bowed her head. "I wasn't thinking about all of you. I was...ready to get home, at any cost."
We were all silent.
"Let's just rest and forget about this. We have work to do." Ms. Monroe voiced. "We are all stressed, and none of us have taken the time to think this totally through. We must determine the full risks of the situation, then act upon it. We all wish to get home. We can only do so if we work together."
"I agree, let's all rest. Danny, a word." Mr. McCoy beckoned me forward. The others threw off their packs, Crepuscule climbed up a rock in his human form and looked around for any threats.
I walked over to Mr. McCoy.
"Have you heard anything that would give us a clue as to what we can expect to see at our destination?"
"Animals like Alistair's pets are moving around up there. The natural animals have moved off. They don't like what they're doing over there, and are moving away. And there's something weaving around the edges of that place, but I don't think it's dangerous to us, at least not yet." I rattled off dutifully. A thought carried with it an undercurrent of disgust, and I quickly pushed it away. This was no time to harbor any feelings towards myself. They could be dealt with later. I had to do what was expected of me now,
"Good. I don't suppose you could stretch out your thoughts to find a path of least resistance?" He scratched his chin, "It would be much easier to take an enemy we know nothing of if we take them by surprise."
And just as easy for them to turn the tables. "I can try, but it would take me a little bit."
"Do it. In the meantime, I'll get some food made." Mr. McCoy nodded to the packs. "It will have to be meager, I would no hazard a fire so close, where danger can come so quickly."
He ambled off to the packs, and I picked a spot near Crepuscule's rock, and lay down to look at the sky. The sky always proved to be a relaxing view, even one's as gray and unforgiving as this one. And the more relaxed I was, the more I could dedicate to concentrating on my task. I just looked up and let myself just sink.
It always started with sinking, never flying, like I'd head some people talk about out of body experiences, and how they just floated out of their bodies. Of course, it wasn't out of body for me, as I could always feel my body when this happened. But it felt as if I sunk for a minute, then spread out, brushing past psyches as I went. These were bugs, rodents, and some birds that were leaving the area as fast as they could. I let them go. They would be irritable if I stopped them, anyway. Not great talking companions. I stopped a moment to listen in indirectly on some of the hissing, guttural language of creatures I couldn't really see, and then began to investigate the less noisy areas. A few I had to discard as routes, because even though they were not noisy, I could feel a sort of anticipation that only comes from patient big game hunters. Crocodiles though quiet mentally; still have an undercurrent of this anticipation. Usually, it was difficult for me to pick up, but I could sense these ones.
That left three passes. One was surrounded by noisy though, and I let it go. The other two seemed open enough.
I did one last check, and then blinked my eyes against the sky. Even though it was gray, my eyes still stung from the light that barely pierced the rapidly clustering, dark clouds. That was an interesting occurrence.
"We will have to find shelter." Crepuscule called.
"Not necessarily." Mr. McCoy pointed out. "Rain will mask our approach."
"Wow, are you related to Mr. Logan?" Kitty asked as she bit into the fruit.
"No, I am just a scholar. Eat up. And if there are blankets, do keep them close. We'll need them." He saw me get up and stretch. "Well, ten minutes, I didn't expect it to be so long. Sit, and eat before you tell us what you've learned."
I sat cross legged in the circle and took a piece of the fruit that Adelia put into our packs. It was a lot like a peach, except it was green. "There are two paths we can take. The castle is built almost into a mountain, so there is a way underground and a way overland. If we're moving in the rain, I suggest the underground path, because the rains come straight down the other one."
"But, underground...That's like a cave, right? What if there are bugs?" Kitty asked, wide eyed.
"Not any natural ones." I said with a shrug. "I didn't feel any presence from others, either."
"Natural ones? What are you talking about?" Kitty asked. The others wore looks of minor confusion.
"I call the creatures I hear and understand 'natural'. Alistair's creations are unnatural." I let the implications of that sink in.
"We should've creamed that guy. "Ray said convincingly as Jean reminded Scott who Alistair was.
"We didn't know, and I don't think I wanted too. Place was creepy." Jubilee put in. "So how do we get in?"
"About a mile from here is an opening in the ground." I had missed it when I started out, but while investigating the path, found the closest opening. "It leads on down into a cave system. We can follow it until it ends up inside the walls around the Soul King's hold."
"Then we can sneak out, figure what this guy has and what we can do to screw it up!" Kitty said gleefully. "Then we can find a way home! It sounds like we have a plan!"
Herman will take the reviews!
Raliena: Well, sometimes they do question it, apparently. Hope you like this chapter!
Chrissy: Yep, but I hope to make that a good finale. I hope you liked the chapter, and the ones to come!
PrincessOfWildfire: I, too, am grateful in this case for the bouts of sinuses I have, creating my horrible sense of smell. I think it would just be nasty. Anway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Anon(girl)88: I'm sorry I can't update as much as I'd like. It's just one thing after the other. But I don't plan on stopping, so you'll still get the chapters, except with delays. Sorry! Hope you like the chapter nonetheless!
