Sugar overload. Also, sorry but I'm not telling you what's going on with the royalty clique right now. Can't think of anything, but the 'writing feeling' in my skull won't go away.

Clara: Pressure on the inside of your skull and you nearly faint with ideas.

Oh, shut up.

~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~

The sand is softer than the floor I've used for so many years as a bed, and a soft breeze has blown enough over me to keep me from freezing in the chilly early morning air. Sitting up nearly causes a sandstorm, but the soft rain, one of the few to come to this region every year, wet it down and stuck it to the sand below it, my skin, and the few garments I wear over the bareness of my skin. Standing up and stretching, I shake rapidly, an impossible dance of eerie features that would leave one watching it reminded of ghosts. The sky is light, though the clouds make the day seem like a moonless night, a ghost of dawn seeping through.

It's absolutely beautiful. I smile in delight at being alive, being free, and actually start dancing in the rain for a few moments. Tilting my head back, I let out a laugh, a piercing cackle that the heavy sky swallows and spits it back at me as water. Spinning in circles at the sheer joy of being able to. I'm able to celebrate being alive, being alone, being free and well and rested for another minute before a single thought comes into my head and brings me back down from ecstasy: If only Catalina were here.

Taking a few minutes to calm down, I tilt my head back to the sky, drinking in the droplets as the sprinkle turns into a downpour. Falling into the river, I land on two fish, killing them effectively. No need to fish for breakfast today, apparently. Shoving them under the remaining smoldering coals, I remove them a few minutes later. Using the smallest of my daggers, I de-bone them, neatly taking out the internal organs to be tossed into the water. Other fishes will make a meal out of them, small penance for taking the fishes lives. Munching one, I close my eyes. An internal compass has been fine-tuned from years of being dumped in the wilderness without anything to help, and I point my shoes north- north towards Uncle, north towards home- and start walking.

Running, actually, when I hear the footsteps behind me. Though, considering the speed of some of the monsters around here, I don't know why I bother. Even as I run, feet pounding the ground quickly, I hear heavy stomps gaining on me. Most mist monsters were destroyed after a year of mist less days, replaced by new-and infinitely more dangerous- monsters. I bend forward to put less wind resistance as a disadvantage and feel a thump in my behind a split second before I go flying into the air. Landing hard on my face, it gets buried under an inch of sand.

Coughing, I lurch to my feet and one side in time to avoid another attack. This monster seems to have no problem with any company except humans. About twice my size and gray, it's covered with as many spikes- foot-long, razor sharp spikes- as there are feet of skin. I've never managed to defeat one without Catalina yelling in my ear just what to do and when- and then getting me pulverized while she's playing her flute. NOTHING effects the stupid thing except Doomsday. And, since I know only enough black magic to have me struggling at novice level (I can do thunder, fire, and blizzard) there's no way I can even attempt that.

Fortunately, they live in the long range of cliffs, stretching into a large maze with overly cracked and easily scalable walls. I landed only a foot from one- really don't want to know what would've happened if I hit it, and so I begin to climb, feet squeezing readily into almost unnoticeable cracks. Hauling my skinny butt up there takes about two seconds, and in triumph I lean over the wall, watching the thing stare at me in a disturbing way.

"Hahaha!! You can't get me, you ca-an't cli-imb. Idiot loser, why'd you even try?" I taunt the thing. Laughing at my easy triumph, I begin to walk away.

THUD!!!! The ground shakes beneath my feet. I lose my balance momentarily and fall to my knees.

THUD!!! As the ground shakes again I get slowly to my feet, ignoring the sand. Turning to the direction of the sound, I'm met with a sight of the giant spiky demon using the spikes on his paws to climb the walls.

Oh shit.

As the thing gets to the top I've already taken off at the fastest speed I can manage right now, on too little sleep even for me and bordering starvation. Feeling a trickle of something down one leg I waste one hand putting it in the current and bringing it away to feel a major urge to swear: I'm badly bleeding. Can't talk, though, need to save my breath for running.

As I rush along the plateaus, wind coming hard, bottom bleeding and sore, legs getting soaked and sticky, I can only pray that this brute gets tired of chasing me soon.

On second thought, I just hope he stops chasing me NOW, I've run out of plateaus. Taking a chance with the rain beating harder on my arms and chest, I make a made leap as far out over the plain as possible. Landing hard on my injured bottom, I nearly faint with pain as dirt gets in my wound. When a shadow hovers around me, however, I get up and hurry on.

No sooner than I do so than the stupid thing following me lands right where I was a second before. Roaring at me angrily, he charges again.

This could take a while. Seeing a small hole in the plateau about fifty feet away, probably a cave half my size, I run towards it with all the strength my legs have. Flinging myself to my knees in a wild dive into the cave, I scramble into pitch blackness just as the thing slams into the cliff.

It's pitch black in here, with the spiked demon plugging up the one light source. Staying on my knees and crawling slowly forward, I reach up to find that the cavern, once I got inside, has widened significantly and is much higher than I first thought. I can hear the snorts of the demon nearby, pawing at the stone wall trying to get in. From experience, I know these things are stubborn. I lie down to sleep, prepared to begin my journey again at moonrise.

~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~*^~

I've gotten popular. 2 days after I last updated, somebody wants me to again. So I started typing, dragged my mind from the gutter of homework, frustration. Thanks!!!