As promised... three at a time. Hope you guys enjoy it... oh. And girls!

Chapter Nine: What Was Once Hidden… Still Is

The tension was building between the 'great leader' and their followers. Robert was also glaring at Enrique, silently wishing that he hadn't said anything to them after all.

After several moments of silence, Robert transformed himself into a Faerie and gathered everyone's attention. His outfit, not so astonishing compared to Enrique's, held the crest for Ellerian. It was an amazing site to see; still as elegant as Enriques, but it held nobility worth, compared to what Enrique wore.

"I knew it was wrong to all stay on foot. We Faeries are the best navigators and…"

Michael pointed a finger at Robert, as he interrupted him. "Great navigators, huh? Then why are we lost?"

Robert gave Michael a sceptical glance before he allowed himself to finish, "And… we work the best in the air. I'm offering to go up and check our position. Maybe I can find where we are supposed to go."

Most of the group nodded in agreement and watched as Robert took to the air in one graceful movement.

A long and loud sigh was heard from Tyson. "Wow. I wish I could fly."

Max looked to Tyson and laughed at his remark, "What happened to finding Faeries funny?"

"But he can fly. That's cool."

No one dignified that with an answer. Only Max... with a nodd.

Quite a few of the group sat down where they were to wait for Robert's return. They all began to chatter, either about the world and the sight's that they had seen, or what trouble they were in and who's fault it was.

Tala began to get annoyed with the conversation and decided to go and do a little exploring for himself. He had always preferred his own company rather than a big group, so slowly and carefully he crept away, making sure no one saw him leave.

He wandered to where he had seen a huge rock, earlier that day and sat down in one of the small crevices. Leaning back he ran one of his hands down, and noticed how rough the rock felt. It was cold, and as he ran his other hand down the side, he could have sworn that it almost felt like scales. At this thought he quickly sat up, in order to check that this rock actually was what he thought it was. After studying it for a while he noticed that it was shiny… Well, it's not moving. It's the right colour, and it's cold. But… why is it so cold if the sunhas been shining down on it for the past five hours or so?…

Jumping off the rock he scanned it once more. He frowned a little as a small area of the rock began to glow. It shone a bright pink and suddenly disappeared, almost as if it flew behind the rock. Climbing back onto the rock Tala peered over the edge and found the light, but it wasn't shining as brightly as it did before. Instead, it revealed a small, delicate fairy, hopping from one foot to the other.

"You've got to be kidding me" Tala frowned and went to poke thelittle figure with his thumb,"It's a bloody fairy."

At hearing those words, the little fairy slowly turned around to face Tala, and as soon as both eyes met, it darted away behind another crevice, leaving a trail of glittering pink light.

…I did not just see that…

The tiny head peered around the rock again, and Tala noticed that it was giggling. It suddenly put both hands on its hips and leant forward. Instinctively Tala leant over, and as soon as he did, the fairy flew over and blew a raspberry at him. Stepping back in shock, Tala looked away just in time to see a section of the rock begin to slowly move from where it was supposed to be. Deciding that he didn't want to stick around to find out why it was moving, he jumped off the rock and ran as fast as he could. Sprinting away, Tala didn't stop until he burst out of the forestry and toppled over Brian. Still filled with adrenalin he got up and moved away from the edge of the trees.

Curiosity overcame them all and they all looked over to where Tala held his eyes. Kai let out a little chuckle and walked over to where his friend stood in shock.

"What? Did something scare you? You? Big, strong Tala..." Kai looked to Brian and chuckled once more. "Alright, I give up. What did you find?"

"You wouldn't believe me, even if I was going to tell you."

Brian's eyebrows creased at Tala's answer and he stood on the free side. "No. You've got my attention, now tell."

Both friends leant in to here what Tala had to say. Tala, on the other hand, peered over his shoulder and took a few steps back to where no one else could here. He sighed and motioned for Kai and Brian to huddle in.

"Alright. But you gotta promise not to laugh. Okay?" Both boys nodded their heads and glanced to one another. Tala took a mouthful of air and looked at them with a straight face. "I saw a fairy."

Both teens looked at eachother before bursting out laughing. Wondering what could actually make the most silent group members laugh, the rest of the group walked over.

Brian wiped away a little tear that almost threatened to fall and tried to halt his laughter. "That's what scared you? Tala, you're an avarian. Faeries are no trouble for you."

Kai nodded and raised an eyebrow, "And besides, aren't all Faeries good natured at heart?"

Tala shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "That's not what I'm talking about. I mean a little fairy. The ones that nobody thought existed, and are about an inch tall andglitter when they fly."

All was silent until someone burst out laughing. One by one everyone else followed until they all were either giggling or on the ground in pain. Enrique walked over and slapped Tala on the back.

"That was a good one. Thanks for cheering everyone up for me, I mean, it sure beats them moping around because we're lost."

"Why is everyone laughing?" They all turned around to the back of the group to find Robert standing there looking at them all as if they were insane. "I don't see what can be so funny about our current situation, especially since I can't find our proper route. Nothing for miles looks familiar."

The whole group suddenly felt a wave of doubt upon themselves. The situation was hopeless and they had no way of finding where they were meant to be.

"Maybe there will be a village up ahead. They could tell us the way."

All voiced their agreement and decided to continue their journey, not knowing where it would lead. They began to pick up their belongings and were about to head off, when Brian stopped in mid step.

"Can you hear that?"

Everyone else stopped to listen, and began to notice a whistling sound, audible but not very loud. Looking around they tried to find the source when Tala noticed a circular shadow around him, beginning to grow. Looking up he had only enough time to jump out of the way when a huge boulder fell on the spot where, just a minute ago, he had been standing.

"Where did that come from?" Tyson was looking up into the sky looking for where it might have dropped from when he heard Tala jump in fright.

"There it was again. The fairy." They all looked to where he pointed but no one saw a thing.

"Are you saying the fairy did this?"

Soon they had all erupted into laughter once more, and after hearing a 'What fairy?' from Robert the laughter increased.

Tala put his head down and decided that it was better not to say anything about the fairy anymore and continued their journey at the back of the group. Looking to the side he thought he saw a pair of red eyes glaring at him, through the trees, but after blinking a few times and looking again, he saw nothing.

…Maybe I am just seeing things. Man, what did I eat?…

Yeah... What DID he eat... little tiny fairies and rocks that move... what will be next? Well! Find out next time in... 'Round About'. lol. Please Review...